RWBY - It Has to Take a Village
by MattHunX
Summary: Picking up straight from where "Welcome to Mistral" ended. This fic is essentially a rewrite of Volume 5. As Yang and Weiss have already reunited with the rest, some scenes were altered, along with the order in which they happened, with additional and altered dialogue for more character insight and character development. Also, some scenes will run parallel to those in Volume 5.


**RWBY – It Has to Take a Village**

 **Author's note:** Picking up straight from where "Welcome to Mistral" ended. This fic is essentially a rewrite of Volume 5. As Yang and Weiss have already reunited with the rest, some scenes were altered, along with the order in which they happened, with additional and altered dialogue for more character insight and character development. Also, it will have scenes running parallel to those that were actually in the volume to see certain situations from different perspectives while events occurred.

…

"So, wait…" Yang was responding to Neptune. "If classes aren't back in session, then what're you guys doing here? And…where's Sun?" She also referred to the members of team ABRN, who stayed behind to assist the police in canvasing the area for further threats.

"Well, pretty sure the Professor will tell you, but…things didn't exactly go well, here." Neptune suddenly turned downcast. "On the night Beacon got attacked, everyone was watching all the panic and people, over here, started feeling it, too. And a lot of Grimm came to the city." Everyone suddenly mirrored his expression, as they could guess where that lead. "We lost teachers and a lot of officers and huntsmen, before they could deal with them all. With the CCT down, a lot of us could barely keep in touch with our folks, after the attack. So we agreed we wouldn't travel, unless it was to somewhere close to the tower. The Professor sent everyone away, at the end of the last semester. We volunteered to stay and help guard the campus and parts of city, but he kept telling us we should leave, so those who could make the trip or couldn't stay anymore went and made it back home. We hope." he added, with some dread, as none of them could be fully certain that every student who risked leaving to more distant parts of the kingdom or across the continents returned home safely. "But, on the bright side, Professor Lionheart already gave us extra credit, and school isn't even back, yet. And our parents would've told us to get a job for the summer, anyway." he smiled with a shrug, trying to be more lighthearted.

"Hmph. Extra credit ain't gonna mean much, if there won't be a school you can go back to." Qrow brought the mood right back down.

"Uh…is this guy always this sunny?" Neptune whispered to Yang, leaning closer.

"He likes to rain on people." Yang chuckled, from behind Qrow, who glanced back at her with a groan.

"Uh, huh." Neptune uneasily noted. "Anyway…Sun told us he'd catch up with us." He remembered it was her second question. "The last thing we heard from him, he was gonna take a boat to Menagerie." Neptune suddenly turned nervous. "He was, uh… going after Blake." he said more quietly and could see Yang's expression darken and saw her clench both fists. He glanced around to find a way suddenly to not be near her and saw Weiss was done talking with her sister. He stepped back to try and have a conversation. "Excuse me…" He pardoned himself.

…

"…and we traveled all over Mistral. I mean, the _kingdom_ , not the city. We just got here. But you wouldn't believe how _big_ this place is! And all the Grimm we had to fight! We never saw _any_ of them in Professor Port's classes, it was so awesome!" Ruby excitedly bounced alongside Weiss, rattling their adventures to her that Weiss was listening to in weary silence. "Uh, sorry. I know I ramble a lot." Ruby lowered her head, apologetically, realizing she was exhausting her.

"It's fine." Weiss replied. "I kinda missed it." she added with a small smile that made Ruby grin, then she heard someone clear her throat and Winter stepped up to her with her hands behind her back.

"Could we have a word?" she asked.

"Uh, sure. What...uh, what d'you wanna talk about?" Ruby awkwardly cocked her head.

"I _meant_ with my sister." Winter clarified for her.

"Oh! Eh-heh, sorry!" Ruby skipped ahead, giving them some room and Winter shook her head, as she watched her, before moving closer to Weiss. She placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. Ruby turned her head back to see Winter hug Weiss and she blinked in surprise, then smiled. By the look on Weiss' face, it seemed Winter was not much for publicly showing affection, but that time, it could not wait and she returned her sister's embrace, before they walked on.

"What are you doing here?" Winter asked in a more stern tone. "Do you realize what father will do when he sees you, again? I'm guessing you didn't tell him you were practically _smuggling_ yourself out of the Kingdom." She looked back at the shuttle Weiss flew in on, exaggerating. Or so she thought.

"I…was _actually_ smuggled out." Weiss replied, revealing that her pilot was, indeed, carrying illegal cargo and Winter's stare made her wince. "Please, don't arrest the pilot." Weiss muttered, glancing to the side.

"Oh, I'm sure he's merely trying to make ends meet under the dust embargo." Winter dryly discerned his intentions, questioning if he truly had to rely on less than lawful means to get by, but was considering against reporting him, for getting her sister across the continent unharmed. "I only wish I could've been there, when the General told father about his plans for it." She steered their conversation back to their father. "And there is no way he doesn't already know of your absence. How did you even leave the mansion? You had to have had help. I highly doubt it was mother or Whitley. Which only leaves…Klein." She quickly arrived at the obvious conclusion and Weiss lowered her head. Winter sighed. "Oh, Klein. He knows what the consequences could be. I just hope father will have larger concerns than finding a punishment for him."

"Father's not the only one he should be afraid of." Weiss' face darkened.

"What do you mean?" Winter arced a brow.

"He already went behind my back and made Whitley heir to the company." Winter's eyes widened in shock. "He told everyone I couldn't handle the responsibility, anymore, after what I went through, at Beacon. And that **I** passed it on to him." Winter narrowed her eyes, then was surprised, again, as she listened. "And he _loves_ it! He acted like he was worried for me, but he knew about it the whole time!" Weiss raised her balled fists, then threw them down. "He's just like father!"

"That little…" Winter could not hide the contempt in her voice, but she calmed herself, letting out a deep breath and they walked in silence for a few paces. "Weiss, I have no right to question your decisions when it comes to the company, considering I joined the military to escape from it all. But, do you really think you would've been ready for the responsibility of inheriting the company, if it ever actually came to it?" she asked and to her surprise, Weiss did not even pause in her steps as she answered, looking at the people walking in front of them.

"Like I told my friends…father wasn't the start of our company and I refuse to let him be the end of it." she said, then smiled at the very people who strengthened that resolve in her and picked up her pace to catch up to them. Although Winter was still not convinced her sister was completely ready, she could see a determination in her that she felt was missing from herself. Weiss clearly had not given up on eventually running the Company and was effectively declaring war against their own father. Something Winter wished she had the courage for, years ago, which made her even prouder to see that strength in her.

Weiss joined the others and Neptune smoothly slid in, next to her.

"Needs some hel-…!" he started to ask if she would let him carry her luggage, but before he could say anything more Ruby came in on her other side, seeing she was done talking with her sister.

"Oh! Sorry, Neptune!" Ruby sheepishly said, raising her hands in front of her in a nervous fashion, when she realized she interrupted him.

"Nah, it's cool!" Neptune waved with a smile. "I mean, you guys are teammates. You have a lot more things to catch up on, right?"

"No! I mean, yeah, but, I kinda already told her a lot. Right?" Ruby let out a light, embarrassed laugh, having already talked Weiss' ears off, in just the first stretch on their way up to the academy.

"Well, I can try and listen to you _both_ , at the same time." Weiss joked.

"Really?" Ruby was certainly genuine in her enthusiasm to find out, but Weiss gave her a pleading look that told Ruby she was not serious about it. "Oh, well...I, um…" Ruby glanced back and forth between three groups she could join. Yang, who was talking with Qrow and Oscar. The rest of team RNJR. Or half of team SSSN. Since the first two groups of people were actually forming one, by talking over and between one another and she was completely unfamiliar with Sage and Scarlet, she saw a fourth - only slightly less awkward - option, as she glanced behind them at Winter. She took a long step back, comically leaving a foot behind to drag her heel along, as she moved next to her, saying a quiet _hi_ , accompanied by a nervous smile and a predictably awkward silence. Winter _mentally_ rolled her eyes, halfway succeeding in not actually doing it outwardly.

…

"So, what are we even doing?" Jaune asked, looking at Oscar. Yang calmed down, as Neptune left and looked at Oscar.

"Just that we need to talk to Lionheart, first. And that, uh, something feels…off." Oscar said.

"What d'you mean?" Qrow asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Um…" Oscar was having difficulty following and relaying the concerns of the man inside his head.

" _If I may…"_ Ozpin spoke to him. _"There is a way I can tell them, in my own words. If you allow me."_

Oscar stopped and appeared to be considering something that was making him look nervous.

"Kid?" Qrow raised a brow at him as he stood still and everyone gathered around, including Winter and Ruby. They were at the foot of a giant elevator that would take them up to a stone pathway leading up to the academy's courtyard.

"Oscar? What's going on?" Ruby asked as Oscar closed his eyes. After a few second of silence, a green aura flashed around Oscar, briefly making it look as if his hair turned white. Everyone was observing him closely and stepped back when he opened his eyes that glowed.

"Do not be frightened, students." Ozpin's voice could be heard and faded into Oscar's.

"Oz?" Qrow asked.

"Yes. And though I may be the one speaking, Oscar is still present, mentally. He has merely…handed over the controls, so to speak." came the reply as he rested his hands on top of his cane. "It is so very good to see all of you, again." he looked around at every one of them, seeing the confusion on some of their faces. "Though some of you have already been informed of my…predicament, this must be rather perplexing for the rest of you."

"What's going on?" Winter asked, completely at a loss.

"Miz Schnee." Ozpin smiled. "I am glad to see you are safe, as well. Not to doubt your ability to protect yourself, of course. We have all witnessed it, during your… _altercation_ with Qrow." He glanced at him. "We have not even spoken the last time you have visited my school." Winter has completely lost her calm and cool façade as she began understanding who was speaking to her, even if she had trouble believing it, at first.

"Professor…?" she trailed off, struggling to even entertain the notion something like that could be possible. "T-this impossible! H-how…? You…! The reports said you…!" Winter could not form sentences, though she kept trying. "I…t-this is...I-I don't understand."

"I _would_ say rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated, however…the situation is even stranger than it appears, I'm afraid. Certainly more so than fiction, if I may say so." Ozpin replied.

"W-wait a sec…!" Neptune held up his hands. "Y-you're…Professor Ozpin?" he asked and his face showed definite signs he was about to mentally melt down. Weiss stared at the farm-boy, who sounded exactly how she remembered their late Professor. His echoing words, mannerism and inflections were unmistakable. And he referred to Beacon Academy as his school.

"Indeed I am, Mr…" Ozpin paused. "Vasilias, if I remember correctly." he added.

"Woah, you…remembered my last name. Wow." Neptune rubbed the back his neck. "People usually have a hard time with that."

"Without an eidetic memory, I'm afraid it would be impossible to remember the names of every student who visited my school, but I try." Ozpin smiled.

"O-...kay…" Neptune nervously smiled, still trying to process it all, along with half the group.

"So, you wanted to talk to us directly, is that it?" Jaune asked, folding his arms. He had a bit of an edge to his voice that was not lost on Ozpin, Qrow or RNJR. "Then, talk. You can start by telling us what's _off_ , first."

"Very well. It was actually something Mr. Vasilias said, earlier." Ozpin noted and Neptune blinked in confusion. "Considering we are between semesters, sending students and faculty home would not be unusual, but from what you have told us, Leonardo insisted all student should leave. Given how short-handed both the school and the local law-enforcement has to be, I find it strange he would leave the school empty and the city itself without any skilled huntsmen, even if they are still in training." Ozpin turned to Qrow. "We have yet to make contact with professional huntsmen." He turned back to Neptune. "And you have told us a number of them were among the casualties, as well."

"Yeah." Neptune nodded with sadness.

"This does not bode well. Why would Leo leave the academy and the city without capable aid? It is fortunate you and the other students chose to remain." he told Neptune and nodded at Sage and Scarlett. "It may seem as though the situation has calmed down, but I'm afraid it is merely the calm before the storm. Which brings me to my second point. According to you, Leo was expecting us. And we did have…an arrangement, in the past. A _contingency plan_ , if you will. However, he could have only had a _vague_ idea as to when we would arrive, at best. And by ' _we',_ I only mean Qrow and the students from Beacon. He should not have any knowledge of Oscar or that I have…merged with him."

"Merged?" Weiss repeated.

"Yes. I'm afraid the explanation to that will have to wait, until after our meeting with Leonardo, Miz Schnee. I apologize, for this surely is overwhelming. Let me just say, it is a pleasure to see you, as well." he replied with a sincere smile, as small as it was. "But, we have to meet with Leonardo, so we may have a better understanding of the situation and of the decisions he made."

"What you're saying…" Winter started, slowly, analytically. "Is that Professor Lionheart has to know about a threat, immediate or eventual, and still he decided not to enlist help from the local police or huntsmen. And that despite limited communications he was already aware of your arrival, when he shouldn't have been. Which makes his behavior _suspect._ " she discerned and the three members of team SSSN looked at Ozpin with some understandable misgiving.

"Perhaps it is too early to call him suspicious, just yet." Ozpin raised a hand in caution, glancing at the students from Haven. "But, yes. His reaction, as far as it was described, is very unlike him. In fact, as I have previously said, he is overly cautious, most of the time. Leaving an entire city and its academy without any protection is the opposite of that. I…" He looked at Neptune, apologetically, who was not giving him a glare, anymore. "Did not want to openly state any suspicion I may have of him, with his students present. Especially, since he is, after all, a dear and trusted friend." He turned back to Winter. "Still…very perceptive, Miz Schnee." he told her. "Though, it…could be coupled with a bit of subtlety, perhaps." He made a gesture with his thumb and index finger, telling her to not be so open with her suspicions. Winter blinked with her mouth slightly ajar at the small criticism of her tact. "Now, we must continue and make it to Leonardo, as soon as possible. I know I need not ask, but you must keep what I have told you and not share any of it with anyone else." he added. Neptune glanced at the others, before looking at him.

"Sure." he said with a nod and Winter gave a small, silent nod of her own.

"Thank you!" Ozpin said, nodded to Qrow and closed his eyes. They opened, again and Oscar looked around.

"Uh, hey. It's…me." he announced.

"You okay, kid?" Qrow asked, though he could see he was not particularly disoriented.

"Yeah. It just…felt a little weird. I could see and hear what was happening. It was almost like I was dreaming and couldn't stop what…I was saying." He made a nervous glance at Winter.

"Heh. Well, you can definitely feel like that after a few rounds of drinks, too." Qrow commented and earned a groan from both Ruby and Oscar. And a disapproving scowl from Winter. "Riiight…let's go!" he exclaimed, not waiting to hear any verbal reprimand and led the group to board the elevator. They began the ascent, some of them in uncomfortable silence.

"How is something like this even possible?" Winter was quietly asking no one in particular.

"Yeah, it's crazy." Ruby leaned closer. "But the Professor can tell you way better than us. He's, like, a really good story-teller." she added and Winter could agree he certainly had a way with wording things.

"He explained it to all of you?" Winter asked.

"Yep." Ruby nodded and Winter put a hand to her temple.

"This…day…is just…" She shook her head, as they gazed at the parts of the city both below and above.

"Better strap yourself in, _specialist_!" Qrow turned his head, with a surprisingly serious look. "It's just the tip o' the iceberg." He started smirking. "But, you know about _those_. Heck, you were born on one!" he told her and Winter gritted her teeth with a growl. Inside Oscar's head Ozpin sighed.

"Uncle Qr…-!" Ruby started.

"I've had it with-…" Winter stopped as the comm-link in her ear buzzed. She sighed to calm herself and placed a hand to it, answering. "Yes?" And listened, as did the others. "What!?" They either raised a brow or blinked. "He has to know of the situation, here, first." She sighed, again. "Understood. I…" She paused to look at the others and Weiss. "Need time to prepare." She turned off her comm.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked. Winter gave her a sullen look.

"Orders have finally reach us…from Atlas. General Ironwood is recalling all troops, across Remnant. And as soon as they return, the kingdom is closing its borders." she briefly explained and could see Weiss was not surprised by the news. "You knew?" Winter asked.

"I…overheard him telling father, right before I…before Klein helped me get out." Weiss replied.

"This was already planned, then. And the information can't reach us any faster than… _a shuttle_ , it seems." she said, looking to the side, as if she was cursing inside.

"You have to _leave_?" Weiss asked, broken up about having to part from her sister and Winter lowered her head, seemingly conflicted about having to follow orders, in that particular instance.

"So…what if you don't?" Ruby asked her and both Schnees looked at her. "I mean, the General isn't a _bad guy_. I'm sure he won't be angry…if you'll just tell him, later, you wanted to stay with Weiss. Right?" Ruby glanced between them, with a hopeful expression.

"I cannot disobey an order and then ask for a pardon, after the fact." Winter stated, with an exasperated shake of her head and looked at Weiss' face, seeing she already lost hope she would stay.

"But, you heard the Professor!" Ruby pleaded with her.

"We know Haven is going be attacked, next." Jaune stepped up. "That's why we came here in the first place. That woman, Cinder and whoever she's working with, the White Fang, they're all in it together. _We_ have to be, too. Besides, you two haven't seen each other for… _months_ , right? You're seriously going to just…board a shuttle and leave? Or take her _back_ with you?" He even thought of an alternative, one which they would have liked even less.

"No!" Ruby stood in front of Winter, not wanting her to do that, either or even hear it. "We have to stay together!" Ruby told her. "Please! You don't have to be a stickler for the rules, all the time!" she pleaded, in her own way and Winter stared at her choice of words. Although Weiss would have preferred it if Ruby had put it differently, she looked at Winter, pleadingly. The elevator came to a halt at the top of the verdant plateau Haven Academy was built on and they briefly looked at the path to the courtyard, then back at Winter, who knew she had to make a decision, right there. To stay and walk with them or take the elevator back down and prepare to leave.

"I…" Winter weighed the consequences of her intended action, one last time, while looking at her sister's face. She sighed. "I won't regret this. But, I'll be surprised if I won't be court-martialed." she stated and reached for her comm-link, seeing the light return to Weiss' face. She took a few steps, away from them as she spoke. "Tell the troops to leave without me!" she ordered and waited for a response. "You _heard_ me." And once more. "I know what I'm doing. I will face the consequences, later. _Over_." she firmly signed off, took the earpiece out, looked at it, one last time and threw it off the cliff. Despite her sister's unspoken insistence on a lack of public display of any affection, Weiss immediately went to hug her, knowing she could be throwing her entire career away, depending on how severely the Atlesian Military's command would respond to her disobedience. Winter placed a hand around her and the other on her head. Ruby jumped and hugged them both, to their surprise. Weiss gave her an appreciative smile, not even shaking her head at her lack of concern for boundaries. Ruby grinned at her, then up at Winter, who closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Alright! Now, that we got ourselves a _Queen_ , let's move our _pieces_ , okay?" Qrow urged them, substituting a vulgar word with the analogy to chess-pieces.

"Your Professor's not the only one who's got a way with words, huh." Neptune smiled at Yang, as Qrow left their side to stroll ahead. Yang shook her head with a smile and followed her uncle.

" _Someone_ rubbed off in him." Oscar muttered, next to them, not appreciating the cleverness of it.

" _Most assuredly that was all him."_ Ozpin quickly denied it was, in any way, his influence as they went after him, all the way up the path, where Qrow stopped and turned to them.

"Hang on! Maybe it's not a good idea fer all of us t' go in. Leo's only expectin' me and a couple of you kids. In case he _does_ know more than he'll let on, we don't wanna spook 'im with our numbers, especially with the Ice Queen, here. He'd have a heart-attack just from seeing _her_." he suggested and could not hide a smirk as Winter took exception to it. "I'm serious!" Qrow added.

" _Really?"_ Winter dry asked, doubting it.

"Look, we don't want anyone t' get the idea we're preparing for a fight. Not Leo and definitely not the people of the city. We can't exactly do anything about the police, since they've already ran into the White Fang, but as far as they know, they'll only have to worry about a bunch of _them_. And if we play this safe, that's _all_ they'll have to worry about."

"Qrow is right." They turned to Oscar, whose posture and speech told them it was Ozpin who was addressing them, once again. "We must not risk the spread of any rumors of an attack, for however small, they could quickly grow and be exaggerated until they would become unmanageable and cause panic. Also, I feel we must not let Leo know that I have paired with Oscar, just yet. But, I wish to be present and see how he behaves, for myself. I can only do so, if Oscar is there." he said and walked up to Winter. "For that to work, however, I have to leave my cane in someone's care. Leo would recognize it immediately and would know I am also there. Miz Schnee, if you would." He offered her the cane and Winter took it. "Thank you, again." He put his hands behind his back.

"So, what can _we_ do?" Neptune asked.

"Well, seeing as Leo have already requested that you escort us to the academy grounds, he will not find it, at all, unusual if you accompanied us inside." Ozpin replied. "Shall we?" He looked at Qrow, who nodded and Oscar came back. He started grasping with his dominant hand.

"It almost feels…strange not holding that." he commented, looking at the cane in Winter's hand.

" _That may simply be my attachment to it, bleeding through."_ Ozpin stated.

" _Bleeding_?" Oscar made an uncomfortable face.

" _Poor choice of words."_ Ozpin apologetically said.

"You ready?" Qrow asked.

"W-what do we even say?" Oscar asked and Qrow looked at the sky, in thought, for a moment.

"You came t' the city t' join the school and become a huntsman. We ran int' you, on the way here. It's not that far from the truth." Qrow shrugged. "Easiest way t' keep a lie straight, is if it's got some truth in it."

"The voice of _experience_?" Winter asked with a frown.

"More than they give you in boot-camp." Qrow mockingly replied and turned to enter the courtyard, without waiting to see her glare, which he could feel on the back of his head, anyway.

"Uh, we'll be back!" Ruby reassuringly gave Weiss' arm a squeeze with both hands and went after her uncle and Oscar, followed by Jaune, Ren and Nora and the three members of team SSSN.

"Catch you in a minute!" Neptune smoothly pointed both index fingers at Weiss, who smiled, as he picked up the pace of the others, hoping to talk to her some more.

"Hey, sis! Don't explode anything!" Yang called after Ruby, who turned to grin at her. Weiss, on the other hand, briefly looked at her with a small, uncomfortable glare, as her memories of that particular incident were not fond, but then she had a small smile.

…

"You kids were right." Qrow said as they walked across the courtyard. "The place is empty. If I didn't already know, I'd be running all the way to Leo's office and kick the door in on 'im, ready for a fight."

" _Thankfully we can avoid such misunderstandings."_ Oscar heard Ozpin say.

"It's been a while since we had to hammer anything." Nora skipped, as if she was excited.

"Nora, we had _four_ fights today." Jaune reminded her, weary from just saying it.

" _Bad_ number." Nora quipped, as if it made sense to anyone else and not just her. Jaune even looked at Ren if he could explain, but all he got was a shrug. Neptune ran ahead of them and pushed the large doors open that lead into the grand hall.

"Welcome to Haven Academy!" he exclaimed, spreading his hands, then slightly bowed, extending them to the side, to usher them in. Two stairways flanked a statue of an unshackled female figure. It appeared to be reaching for the sky and it also made it look like her arms were supporting the balcony of the floor the stairs led up to. From there, double doors opened to a corridor leading to the Headmaster's office.

"Yeah, not my first time, here." Qrow noted as the children looked at the green and brown interior, the dozens of paintings lining the walls and the banners and trophy cases.

"I…remember this place." Oscar quietly stated as he turned around, walking backwards to look above the entrance, at the row of windows, banners and the two additional stairways on the sides that gave access to the second floor. The bottom of the walls had leaf and flower-like filigree, somewhat similar to the aesthetic design of Ozpin's cane. The colors themselves evoked a sense of almost being outside, amongst plants and trees.

" _Because of the culture's closer affinity to nature, we designed it so that it reflects that connection."_ Ozpin commented on the school's appearance.

"I'm…starting to remember." Oscar noted, as he started ascending the stairs with the others.

" _Good."_ Ozpin replied, glad the memories of his former selves were becoming easier for Oscar to see.

"Looks like the guy who built the place had a green-thumb." Nora was already skimming along the railings on the second floor and swinging around the columns, with perfect balance.

" _Not quite."_ Oscar heard Ozpin. _"I'm actually terrible at looking after them. Houseplants, at least."_

"I don't think I remember any…at Beacon." Oscar said, amused he could recall such a detail.

" _Precisely."_ Ozpin replied, sounding somewhat uncomfortable by his lack of skill in that area.

"You mean, not one of your lives had anything to do with plants?" Oscar incredulously asked, as they reached the first floor, drawing the attention of the others. Qrow raised a brow, figuring they had been carrying on a conversation. Neptune opened the double-doors to lead them on.

" _I know the odds of not having, at least, one such forebear are quite low."_ Ozpin admitted.

"Well, you got me, now." Oscar squared his shoulders, with a bit of pride in his upbringing, as unspectacular as it was for him. "That is, if we ever have to work a field, again. Someday." he joked.

" _Well, I do have experience in_ _ **that**_ _area. There were days, when a man did not have anything else than his crops to care for._ _ **Admittedly**_ _one could grow tired of it, eventually even refusing to tend to it all."_

"Doesn't sound like you." Oscar replied, shaking his head once, while looking at the corridor they started passing through.

" _Not as I am now."_ Ozpin meant it was long ago that he was so callous. Disillusioned, even.

"You two are talking up a storm." Qrow commented, looking back. "Might wanna keep that _one-sided_ or something." he told them.

A pacing Lionheart was jolted from his troubled thoughts by a knock on his door and by the voice of one of the few students who chose to remain at the school, despite his efforts to have them all leave, out of genuine worry for their safety.

"Professor?" Neptune waited for a response and Lionheart took a few steps towards the door.

"Ah, yes! Mr. Vasilias, come in!" he told him and was not completely surprised by the people who came with him. All but one.

"Qrow! You don't know how relieved I am you made it here safely!" Lionheart exclaimed and none of them truly had any reason to believe he was not being sincere, nor have they even thought he might not be.

"Hmph, well, maybe you wouldn't've had to worry so much, if you had some huntsmen out there, t' keep a lid on things. No offense t' yer students." he looked at Neptune, Sage and Scarlet. "From what _they_ told us, they're the only ones here who can fight off Grimm. And the White Fang just cropped up.

"That's why I sent them to the city!" Lionheart replied, trying to defend his decisions. "I heard you have arrived and that you have already gotten yourself into a fight. _Unsurprisingly._ " he added, with some criticism, folding his arms.

"Hey, don't try t' pin this on _me_!" Qrow pointed a finger at him. "We were on our way and got ambushed, _twice_." He stepped closer, showing the number. "Then we heard about the airport. What's _your_ excuse?"

"M-my _excuse_?" Lionheart was taken aback, unable to follow him.

"For sending students out there, Leo!" Qrow replied, as if his issue with him was not obvious. "I figured the police would be swarmin' the place, with a couple of huntsmen, who happened to be around. But, a bunch o' kids had to pick up the slack for both, didn't they?" Lionheart slowly lowered his gaze, unable to meet Qrow's eyes or that of his students.

"Hey, it's not like we couldn't handle it!" Neptune walked further in, to defend their headmaster.

"That's not the point, kid!" Qrow turned to him. "You did _good_! But, d'you really think you could handle another fight like the one at Beacon. All by yourselves? 'Cause that's what's comin'." Neptune was not too confident with their odds, when they were described as such and he looked away.

"We don't know if they're planning to attack Haven the same way. It might not even have to come to that!" Lionheart tried to be supportive.

"Oh, _now_ you're being optimistic!" Qrow exclaimed, knowing how Lionheart was usually skittish. And having abandoned his defenses, by sending away remaining faculty and most students, along with a lack of professional huntsmen, he was acting uncharacteristically hopeful that they might not have to face the same challenges as they did at Beacon. "And what makes you so sure it won't be even _worse_?"

"I-I've…I have _faith_! In my students. And in all of us." Was all Lionheart could say.

"Hmph. Sure. And maybe we'll have _luck_ on our side, too, right." Qrow was mocking himself.

"Qrow…!" Lionheart shook his head.

"Fine! Let's stop talking about what happened. And let's figure out what we're _gonna_ do, then." Qrow yielded, in a way. Lionheart sighed and he could only take the time to look at the students from Beacon, then.

"You must be the students Qrow told me about." he smiled.

"Yep." Ruby raised a hand in greeting. "Ruby Rose."

"Jaune Arc." He placed his hands on the hilt of his sword.

"Nora Valkyrie." She did a small bow, standing on her toes, then swayed back on her heels.

"Lie Ren." Ren bowed with a hand held in front of his chest.

"Oh, my pleasure! Leonardo Lionheart." He almost completely mimicked Ren, then noticed the one student who had not introduced himself. It occurred to Oscar, as well and he stepped forward.

"Oh, sorry! I-I'm…my name's Oscar. Pine." he meekly said.

"You…look a little younger than the others." Lionheart noted, finding it strange.

"I'm…14." Oscar replied.

"14?" Lionheart was surprised.

"Oscar, here, was lost in the city." Qrow stepped back to put a hand on his shoulder. "Just got in from the countryside. He was tryin' t' find his way around, when he ran into our fight. Don't know what scared 'im more, the White Fang or the tall buildings. Heh heh." He let go and gave him a nudge with his shoulder.

" _Not an exaggeration."_ Ozpin stated and Oscar tried to react only to Qrow, with a small frown.

"He told us he wants t' become a huntsmen." Qrow added.

"A huntsmen? Well…!" Lionheart was both pleasantly surprised and felt dread, at the same time. "You must know that children usually attend a combat school, before they can apply. Have you any experience?"

"Not…really." Oscar scratched the back of his neck, a little nervous about how much he should tell of his actual backstory. "I lived on a farm. I fought a few small Grimm, here and there. That's about it."

"I'm afraid that won't be enough for this institution. Especially in such difficult times." Lionheart apologetically told him. "But, I'm sure that if you made the choice to come here that will go a long way. You need but a few years of training, in the nearest combat school and then…" He seemed to sadden, for only moment, before forcing a smile. "Then you will be ready to lead the life of a huntsmen." He tried to sound as enthused about it as applying students would.

"Thank you!" Oscar smiled, lowering his head, as if he was slightly disappointed.

"I'm sorry, I cannot do anything more. I…would offer you one of the unoccupied dorm rooms, until the start of the semester, at least, but…these aren't the best times to be at the Academy." Lionheart hoped, deep down, there will be another semester. Or he was acting like there would be one, while knowing otherwise.

"I'm sure I can find a place to stay, in the city!" Oscar gave an even wider smiler, showing more spirit.

"That we can help you with. Mr. Vasilias, would you mind finding a place for Oscar, with your team? I know it is a late hour." Lionheart requested and Qrow could tell it was also a way for him to make them leave the room.

"Not a problem, Professor!" Neptune waved it away. "Um…come on!" Neptune told Oscar, a little hesitantly, but managed to keep up the act, remembering that Ozpin wanted to be present. Sensing Oscar's own hesitation, Ozpin spoke.

" _It is alright, Oscar. Qrow can keep us apprised."_ he told him and Oscar left Lionheart's office with Neptune, Sage and Scarlet.

"I must say…that was unexpected." Lionheart commented.

"Well, you know kids these days." Qrow shrugged. "They start early." He could not help but smirk.

"Qrow, for the _gods'_ sake!" Lionheart exclaimed, one hand to his temple, one indicating the children.

"I'm…kinda used to it." Ruby assured him.

"That's right." Lionheart remembered. "I almost forgot he is your Uncle. That would explain the resemblance." he smiling added.

"Um…" Ruby looked to the side.

"Uh, Leo?" Qrow wanted to clarify he was only her honorary Uncle.

"And the two of you…" Lionheart turned to Ren and Nora. "Your names…sounded so familiar. I'm sure I must've seem them…on the boards. But, you're too young to be bounty-hunting."

"Nora and I…made a living from bounty missions, since we were little." Ren replied.

" _Living_ on… _bounties?_ " Lionheart made a face.

"We…" He looked at Nora. "Only had each other." Ren lowered his gaze.

"My goodness…" Lionheart was shocked they have been enduring so long, from an early age. "W-where are you from?"

"Leo…!" Qrow thought they should leave that conversation hanging.

"It's okay." Ren said. "Nora and I are both from the village of Kuroyuri."

"Kuroyu…oh, my." Lionheart realized, then, where they came from. He walked to his desk and brought up a holographic map of Mistral, with a filter that showed a number of blank or black places. "We lost that village nearly a decade ago to the Grimm. I'm…so sorry." Lionheart told them.

"It's in the past." Ren remained collected, not letting himself be taken over by those memories, not anymore. "And we have brought it peace." he added, looking at Nora and the rest. Lionheart was absolutely amazed.

"You actually managed to rout the Grimm from that area? But, none of our huntsmen were capable of that for _years_. Many who tried…never even returned." he told them, astonished they were successful.

"And they did it without _me,_ too _._ " Qrow felt it should be said. "Just so you know." Lionheart could not have been more impressed. "Now, why don't we get back t' business. Let's start by figurin' out how we're supposed to protect the _relic_?"

"Qrow! The children!" Lionheart cautioned him.

"Already know. I filled them in." Qrow told him.

"You…filled them in?" Lionheart was surprised they were aware of what exactly was at stake. Knowing about the attack was one thing, but the relic? And he would learn Qrow also told them about the Maidens. What he did not and could not know, was that they already had Ozpin, back at their side.

Lionheart repeated what Neptune told them. About the losses they suffered. They went on to discuss why it was paramount they find the Spring Maiden and the role she would have to play. And why they needed more resources and the Mistral Council's approval to even mount a search for her. Qrow revealed he already knew where to look for her and that they needed to get past his own sister and the Branwen tribe, if they were to get to her. They needed to enlist the help of other huntsmen. Ones who did not necessarily owe any allegiance to the Council. To make matters more complicated, or just not in any way simpler, they could get little information on Cinder and her associates or how they were able to pass themselves off as exchange students from the Academy.

"Well, I can't say this has been a warm reunion, Leo." Qrow told him.

"I'm sorry. I know you've all traveled a long way. But, I will do everything I can to help." Lionheart replied and none of them thought of doubting his sincerity.

"Sure. We'll stay in the city for the time being." Qrow said. "Local comms are still up." He showed him his scroll. "Keep in touch!" he told him, shaking it. "Come on, kids!" he said to them and they started to leave. Ruby turned from the doorway.

"It was nice meeting you, Professor." she told him.

"Likewise." Lionheart replied and she closed the door behind her. Soon after, the letter _'W'_ flickered on, above his table, being projected by the device built into it and the voice of Arthur Watts came on.

"Oh, Leo…we have got to work on you'h improvisational skills." he told him, as he had been listening in on their entire meeting. "Also, I'm afraid the Headmaste'h side of you makes you far too trusting of any eage'h children who say they come to attend you'h school." Lionheart was about to ask what he meant by that, when two images of Oscar appeared for him, taken from the balcony Watts was observing them from, earlier. One shot showed him in full, when they were on their way to the Academy, the other zoomed in on the cane he was carrying. Upon immediately recognizing it and the implications, Lionheart was overcome by a fear that easily outweighed the anger he was feeling over being fooled by them.

…

In the grand hall, Neptune and Oscar were waiting for them with Sage and Scarlet.

"How'd it go?" Neptune walked up to them.

"I need a drink." Qrow stated.

"Oh…that good, huh?" Neptune muttered.

"Did you actually try to find a place for Oscar?" Jaune asked if they were actually staying with that act.

"Not really. If the Professor had let him stay, he could've crashed with us." Neptune shrugged.

"Let's hope Leo won't think something's off if the kid stays with us. He did need a place. It's just that after the talk we had, I don't think we want him catching on t' Oz, yet." Qrow said.

" _It would better ensure your safety, should Leo or anyone suspect the truth."_ Ozpin said and Oscar nodded to Qrow in agreement.

"Looks like someone's just dodged going to school, again." Nora chuckled.

" _Pardon me…"_ Oscar heard Ozpin and was taken over. Nora suddenly turned nervous when Oscar's eyes glowed, again and Ozpin's voice echoed behind Oscar's for part of his reply.

"I have been going to school, since the first classrooms were built in Remnant, Miz Valkyrie. I assure you it is _not_ an awkward experience." Ozpin told her.

"Oh." Nora could not even truly fathom that and neither could anyone present.

"So, what's yer take on Leo, Oz?" Qrow asked and got no immediate answer.

"Uh…me, again." Oscar replied, having already switched back and Qrow sighed. "He says we should join the others, first." Oscar relayed the message.

"Right. First only _you_ kids knew." he said to RNJR. "Then _another_ bunch o' kids." To SSN. " _Then_ the Ice Queen!" He made a face and rolled his eyes. "Who's next?" He bemoaned their lack of success in making as few people privy to what they knew as possible.

"Hey, we can keep a secret!" Neptune put on a slightly less than confident smile.

"Yeah? Well, we don't need a whole village o' people to do that." Qrow knew the more people knew of it, the more it could eventually lead to disaster. "The more people know, the faster it'll turn int' another Great War." Qrow replied, shaking to see his flask was empty and implying the kingdoms would be fighting one another, again, if the people learned about the existence of the relics. And their war against Salem would cause mass panic that would only bring the Grimm into it all.

" _The White Fang's machinations would be the least of our worries."_ Ozpin commented inside Oscar, ending that trail of thought as they opened the doors to exit the building, into the evening that has fallen.

"It's like your uncle gets crankier the emptier his flask is." Neptune whispered to Ruby, who just shrugged with a weak smile.

"He says you can still tell him about the rest of the meeting." Oscar told Qrow, stepping next to him.

"Right." Qrow nodded. They slowly walked along and cleared the courtyard. It was enough time for him to recap Lionheart's actions and reactions. When they got back to the path, Yang and Weiss were in the middle of a half-hearted sparring match as Winter was resting against a rock, not particularly intrigued.

"Y-a-ang!" Weiss kept parrying her gauntleted punches. "I told you…I'm…not particularly…good…hand-to-hand!" she was telling her.

"Funny…neither's Ruby!" Yang shrugged, holding up her hands, before she resumed her assault. "Maybe…you and her…need some _pointers!_ " she did a jumping punch at her last word that made Weiss stagger back even further.

"Okay, _point_ taken!" Weiss weakly pleaded her to stop and realized Yang also made a pun with her. "You said that on purpose." She gave her a deadpan look and Yang snickered. Weiss could not help a small smile and noticed the others were back.

"Really? We don't have any White Fang or Grimm t' fight, so you're swingin' at yer own teammate? Take it easy, there, Firecracker!" Qrow shook his head.

"Heh, we weren't serious." Yang said with a smile, hands on her hips.

" _Lucky_ you." Weiss coyly told her and Yang was slightly surprised, letting her hands back down. Ruby was giving them both a warm smile, beyond happy that, over the course of a single day, their team was almost completely together.

"How was your meeting?" Winter pushed herself off from the spot she was leaning on and walked towards Oscar, whose eyes flashed and he took his cane from her with an appreciative nod.

"Thank you, Miz Schnee!" Ozpin told her. "As for the meeting, I was forced to leave the room to not raise suspicion. From what Qrow briefly told me, Leonardo isn't just behaving irrationally. He is disobeying specific instructions I had left him." Everyone worriedly stepped closer, the three students from Haven, in particular, and he placed his hands behind his back and started to slowly pace. "When he was speaking to Oscar about the path of huntsmen, he…was not thrilled about him wanting to follow that life. It came across as if he also had deeper reservations of his own. Normally, there would be nothing unusual in someone who keeps all of it hidden to encourage others by showing a braver side. However, to put it bluntly, he did not sound as if he believed his own words. Not about taking up the fight, nor about helping the next generation to do so. Then there was the manner in which he attempted to suggest there need not be any battle of a larger scale, as if he was somehow convinced it would not come to that. Which leads me to consider the possibility that our adversaries could be planning to win the battle before it even begins, through means yet unknown. But, perhaps this atmosphere of dread, from the looming threat is making me overly suspicious and I am simply reading too much into his behavior. It would certainly not be the first time I would make such an error in judgement and so I cannot ask any of you to blindly trust every decision I make on the matter."

"You…did kinda tell me you made more mistakes than anyone on the planet." Ruby recalled, with an awkward smile.

"Indeed, I have, Miz Rose. More than any man, woman and child, as you recall. And I wasn't exaggerating. I am…cursed." He stopped and looked at the ground. Everyone made a face at the word. He sighed and paused, deciding on what to say next, as everyone looked at him expectantly, except for Qrow, who felt what was coming. "For thousands of years I have walked the surface of Remnant." Eyes went wide. "Living, dying and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all knew was not my first form. And clearly wasn't my last. It is…an extraordinarily strenuous process, on everyone involved." There was a long silence that Winter eventually broke.

"What…are you?" she managed to ask as her eyes wavered.

"I am the combination of countless men who have spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant. With every rebirth, my soul is eventually merged with another. And I am changed. But, my memories stay with me." They kept staring, mouths agape. "This curse was bestowed upon me by the Gods. Because, I failed to stop Salem, in the past. But, we _must_ stop her, now."

"Gods…?" Neptune whispered, exchanging looks with his team.

"Who…is _Salem_?" Weiss mustered the will to ask, while keeping her worldview from imploding.

"Ah, yes. Pardon me. Qrow have not yet told all of you about…her." He cleared his throat and aimed to be concise. "Suffice to say, Salem…is a force of darkness I have battled for as long as I have lived. She… is the being behind the curtain, if you will. Cinder and the White Fang, Tyrian...the man Oscar and I crossed paths with, before leaving here; they are merely her pawns. Doing her bidding for her to bring all of Remnant to its knees and extinguish mankind's flame that guards against her."

"And like I already told _some_ of you…" Qrow spoke. "We don't know much about her, but that's not as important as what she represents." he said, sounding like Ozpin would.

"Well put." Ozpin nodded. "Though, contrary to what some may assume, Salem does _not_ underestimate mankind, or the usefulness of individuals she can manipulate into serving her. Even _worship_ her."

"That Tyrian called him a _goddess_." Jaune remembered how reverent he sounded.

"An exaggeration, I assure you." Ozpin pointed out. "But, the level of loyalty and faith she can command is not. Even if she ultimately discards people." he added and looked at their faces to see the world had been turned upside down for them. He sighed, again. "I tried to be as brief as I could with describing her. I do not wish for anyone to lose any sleep tonight, or in the following weeks. Although, it may be too late for that. And apologies aren't enough. Not for burdening you with this knowledge and especially not for the tremendous hardships all of you have already had to endure as a result of this war. It has largely been fought in secret. But, now…it is threatening to come to the surface, more than ever before."

"We'll still need t' talk about the relics. But, that can wait one night." Qrow said and Ozpin nodded.

"Yes. This is more than enough to absorb, for one day. Or a life-time, even." Ozpin said as an aside.

"Everyone just get some sleep!" Qrow exclaimed. "We'll cover the rest o' the stuff you have to know, t'morrow! We still need t' get back. And **I** still need a drink." he muttered and started towards the elevator platform, before anyone – Winter, in particular – could make any comment.

"Guess we'll see you guys tomorrow!" Ruby told Oscar and team SSSN with a shrug.

"Yeah…after what we heard, I don't feel like saying _we can't wait._ You know." Neptune gave a nervous grin, as he was apprehensive about what they would have to learn about the next day.

"Yeah." Jaune stepped next to him. "But, we made it through Beacon together" He extended a hand. "And we make it through _this_." Neptune smiled and shook it, making up for the lack of a proper greeting they missed at the airport.

"You bet!" Neptune nodded and let go of his hand, pointing a finger at him. "Hey, you still got my number, right?" he asked.

"Yep." Jaune replied, patting his scroll.

"Great! We can call if there's trouble." Neptune stated. "Or…you know if you wanna just talk." He winked at Weiss.

"S-sorry. I don't have my scroll, anymore. My shuttle was attacked by a swarm of lancers over Lake Matsu and I lost it in the fight. It's…probably at the bottom." Weiss told him, somewhat embarrassed.

"Lancers?" Ruby titled her head, having never heard of the type of Grimm.

"They're a type of flying Grimm." Neptune explained. "Look like wasps. And if those weren't dangerous enough, they can be as big as a car."

"Woah. Cool." Ruby whispered.

"Not the word I would use." Weiss said, having flashbacks of the giant insect-like creatures.

"It's fortunate your shuttle wasn't damaged or you might not have made it here." Winter stated. "You had to have acted fast." She correctly assumed.

"So fast that my scroll fell out." Weiss muttered, though she was still proud of her performance.

"We'll have to get you a new one, as soon as possible." Winter told her.

"Yeah!" Ruby bounced to her. "We can go to the market, tomorrow! And see the city!" She was already thinking like a tourist and forgetting why they were there.

"We're not here to-…" Winter stopped. Looking at Ruby, she decided she would let them be, as it was thanks to her and her friends that she stayed with her sister. She sighed. "Fine. We can make time." she said and both girls brightened even more.

"Hey!" Qrow yelled, leaning against the elevator's handrail and Winter growled. They nodded a goodbye and parted from Neptune, Sage and Scarlet.

"Have a good night!" Neptune said and they turned to walk inside the dormitories.

"Hh. Yeah. We'll try." Yang said with a sigh, finally closer to a goodnight's rest, after a long day.

Winter was giving Qrow a glare the whole time she walked towards him.

"It looked like you were gonna take ages to say a few goodnights. You're stuck with us, now. And I know that means you gotta say more than two words t' common folk, like us, but you don't have t' try _that_ hard." he snidely told her.

"I _wasn't_ saying goodnights to _anyone_." Winter replied, irritated.

"Oh!" Qrow mockingly acted surprised and held up his hands. "Well, sorry for assumin' you were!" He smirked and Winter realized he got one over on her, again. She almost snarled as she took a step towards him, with a hand on her sword, but they both heard a rifle being loaded with a round right next to them.

"Uncle Qrow…?" He looked down at his side to see Ruby's Crescent Rose, in its compact form, being pointed at him and his eyes widened as he gave his niece an odd stare, along with Winter. "Don't be mean! Okay?" She adorably threatened him. Qrow blinked, then chuckled.

"You need t' work on your threa-…" A shot went off, inches away from his feet and it bounced off the metallic floor, making nearby birds scatter, except for a single raven. Qrow stared.

Soon after, Jaune received a text message from Neptune that read _"What was that?"_

Jaune casually replied with _"Just Ruby. She shot at her uncle's feet."_

Several seconds later, Neptune responded with an alarmed _"Why!?"_ And Jaune could picture the mix of worry and confusion on his face.

A minute later, a slightly sulking Qrow stood in a corner of the descending elevator, arms folded. Winter and Weiss in the other corner. While Ruby was in the middle with Yang. Jaune, Nora and Ren stood behind them.

"Your friend certainly has an unorthodox way of resolving…conflict." Winter told Weiss.

"Well, she's not our team-leader for nothing." Weiss stated with more seriousness than humor.

Oscar stood by himself, enjoying the view with a look of worry flashing across his face, as he hoped he would not have to see it all destroyed and so did Ozpin.

…

Silently marveling at the quiet, but still fervent nightlife and lights of the city, they walked all the way back to the district where their rented accommodations were. Located on the side of a hill, with a nice view on the mountainous landscape that stretched beneath them.

"Everything is so beautiful." Weiss gazed around. "Not _lifeless_ , like Atlas." she muttered.

"Don't let all the prettiness fool, ya, Princess." Qrow turned his head and spoke, from in front of them. "A person can end up without their life, if they don't watch their backs, here. This place is as dangerous as it is nice t' look at."

"I can't believe it, but I agree with him." Winter grudgingly said. "Mistral is truly beautiful, but it can also be treacherous." she told her.

"If anyone wants to try anything, it's _their_ hospital bill." Yang stated, making a fist with her prosthetic arm.

"Don't worry! I'll numb the pain!" Nora agreed, cheerily unfolding Manghild and looking ready to prove it. "They won't feel a thing!" she declared.

"Is every huntsmen or, um, huntress always this happy for a fight?" Oscar asked, no one in particular, walking next to Jaune, in the front.

"Nah. It's just those two, I think." Jaune shook his head. "And Ruby." he added. "A good day-out for them would probably be shopping for weapons, then eating somewhere. And then have a fight." He shook his head and rolled his eye, somewhat tiredly, having gotten used to Nora's habits, first. Then to Ruby's tendencies, somewhat. Oscar uncomfortably stared.

"M-maybe I should find myself somewhere else to stay, after all." Oscar thought out loud and they walked for a few more minutes.

"We're almost there!" Ruby exclaimed, stepping next to Weiss. "You can stay with us, if you don't have a place!" she excitedly offered. "We have enough _beds_. Uh, but, we can't really bunk." she added, reminiscently and Weiss, too, fondly recalled their room and what they did with it, also remembering the first time Glynda came to inspect it. She did not appreciate their creativity as much.

"I can easily afford us a suitable place within the city." Winter stated, probably wanting to refrain from occupying any room that was not up to her personal standards. Both Weiss and Ruby looked disappointed she would not accept the immediate option. Winter saw it and reconsidered with a sigh. "But, it is the simplest solution." she gave in and they were happy, once more. "Let's hope Lionheart or others won't have any means of surveillance they can keep us under. With _us_ , here, this will surely raise even more suspicion." she pointed out. "Maybe it _would_ be better, if we'd stay in separate accommodations, along with the boy." She glanced back at Oscar and Qrow did, too, at the same time, to see him tense up.

"Heh, heh." Qrow laughed. "He's scared, already!" he exclaimed. "Must be that face of yours." he added, facing forward and Winter glared.

"Uncle Qrow…!" Ruby growled.

"What? That was a compliment." Qrow shrugged and it only annoyed Winter even more. She looked back at Oscar, who averted her gaze.

" _She…_ _ **is**_ _kinda scary."_ he said on the inside, uncomfortably.

" _Well…you're not wrong."_ Ozpin stated.

"It'll be okay!" Ruby insisted. "And if the bad guys show up, we'll be _together_!"

"Ruby's right." Jaune spoke. "We can't let 'em split us up. And that means _we_ shouldn't split us up, either. It doesn't matter how good we think we are. We're safer together." He meekly, but meaningfully aimed the last part specifically at Winter

" _Well put, Mr. Arc."_ Oscar heard Ozpin say.

Although Winter did not appreciate being told, either directly or indirectly, that she had too high of an opinion of herself, she also had to admit it would have been a grave mistake to underestimate an enemy such as the one Ozpin had told them about, especially after seeing what they did at Beacon. She did not reply and they took her silence as an agreement.

Finally arriving at their temporary abode, Qrow strolled straight past the building.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby called after him.

"Bar, first! Then bed." he stopped to turn and say, then continued on. Winter shook her head with a slightly disgusted frown.

"Maybe we should talk to the owner about having four more guests." Ren suggested.

"Yes. That should be done" Winter agreed. "And since _I'm_ seem to be the only adult, here..." She glanced in Qrow's direction. "I'll have talk to them myself. Weiss, why don't you..."

"Let's get you unpacked!" Ruby excitedly grabbed Weiss by the wrist and ran inside, pulling her along, with her suitcase, before Winter could even tell her anything. She remained silent as she watched them disappear.

"I'm gonna get my bike, before I settle in." Yang thumbed in the general direction of where she was going.

"You shouldn't go alone." Ren warned her.

"Yeah. I'll go with you." Jaune told her more firmly and walked alongside her, not letting her protest.

"Hah. Look at you, tough guy!" Yang elbowed him and he smiled as they went into the city.

"I hope the owner won't be angry with us trying to talk to them so late." Oscar said.

"Don't _you_ worry!" Nora told him and thumbed at Winter. "One look from the _big_ Ice Queen and they're gonna give us the whole apartment! She smirked at Winter and the latter could see Nora was not fazed by her small glare.

"Let's just...find them." Winter wearily told them. The day took more of a toll on her, mentally, than she expected and she knew she was going to need more than a single night's rest to recover from all she was exposed to in just the past few hours.

…

Back at Haven Academy, in a chamber only a select few ever entered, let alone knew of, a different meeting was taking place, as the students retired to their dorms for the day.

"Was…the _girl…_ with them?" Cinder was asking Lionheart and Watts through the orb of the Seer.

"Yes. Miss Rose was in attendance." Watts replied. "And someone _else_." he added, looking at Salem, who raised a brow, curiously. "There was a young lad with them. One…Oscar Pine. A farmhand who _allegedly_ stumbled into them in the city and who was looking to join the academy. And their little story would have been mundane enough to be believable, if it weren't for a certain item in the boy's possession I saw prior to their arrival." Salem narrowed her eyes. "The cane you described to me, once, in detail, Ma'am." Watts confirmed her suspicion. "He did not have it on his person, during the meeting, but Leo can attest to it that it is Ozpin's." Cinder's expression briefly mirrored Salem's, but she appeared confused.

"So what? Did he have a _son_?" Cinder asked, not understanding the implications, as she was not told.

"Oh, if only it were that simple, Cinder dear. You would most ce'htainly rest easie'h." Watts was clearly amused and Cinder did not like it.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Cinder stepped forward, but Salem held up a hand, again, to stop them both and turned to Lionheart.

"Leonardo, is this true?" she asked.

"Y-yes, your Grace. The boy must have left it with someone, while they came to see me. I-I wouldn't have even known if…if Arthur had not shown me what he saw." Lionheart fearfully answered.

"This presents quite a problem." Watts stated, looking at Lionheart, then turned to Salem. "But, also an opportunity." he added. Salem agreed with a nod.

"H-he cannot find Spring, before we do!" Lionheart exclaimed.

"You said know of the tribe's location?" Salem asked him.

"Yes, Ma'am. But, you have to hurry!" Lionheart foolishly presumed to urge her. "Qrow is already at odds with my-…Ghhh!" A tentacle of the Seer wrapped around his throat, choking him. Several seconds passed as Lionheart struggle while the Seer slowly drew him closer.

"Leonardo? Do you remember the first time we met?" Salem asked. " **I** remember." she brought him to his knees. "I remember…you're _fear_. But, since that day you have been extraordinarily brave. I won't forget all that you have done for me." She pointed a tentacle to his face. "Do _not_ forget everything **I** can do to _you_!" She released him and he coughed for air, then she gave them their orders regarding the Maiden and for Watts to help Tyrian with his severed tail.

She saw Cinder had reservations about their task and had her back turned. "You're free to speak your mind." she prompted her to voice her concern.

"I don't understand." Cinder faced her. "Working with bandits? Keeping Ruby alive? What's the point? We're strong enough to take what we want by force. And who's this farmboy with Ozpin's cane? Why is he _suddenly_ so important?" she asked.

" _Never_ underestimate the usefulness of others. Take Leonardo, for example. He was one of Ozpin's most trusted…and yet, now…" Salem chuckled. "You _will_ have the power I promised you. When the time is right. But, remember that it comes with a cost. If Ruby Rose has learned to harness her gift, you must take care to protect yours. There is only so much I can do to aid you. As for the boy…he's of no consequence, _**yet**_. For now, Leonardo will have to keep up appearances and _keep_ his distance. Arthur will ensure he's more careful. Despite his provoking, the child's true identity will not have consequences for you. Not from _me_." Salem knew it was not Cinder's fault her old nemesis had escaped his death. For she could not know of his curse and that he would return. She was not going to punish her for inevitably failing what Cinder believed was part of her mission at Beacon. If she should suffer any repercussions for her complacency, it would come at the hands of their enemy. "Understand?" Cinder bowed, accepting the answer she was given and started leaving. "And Cinder?" Salem called after her. "Before you go, inform Tyrian…that I wish to have a word with him." Salem gave her a menacing look and Cinder gave a small smile and nodded.

"It seems Qrow was right, Lionheart." Watts said, after hearing about Tyrian. "The students aren't pushovers. We mustn't treat them as children, _especially_ the boy. I needn't tell you how you should approach him. That is, you are _not to approach_ him, at all. Understood?"

"I…will be more careful." Lionheart promised.

"See that you are. You may lose a tail, yourself – and more – if you underestimate them." Watts left him with that warning and Lionheart watched him leave in silence.

…

Elsewhere, at an undisclosed location, as the night came, the leader of the White Fang fell victim to a coop by an overly ambitious and emboldened Adam Taurus. The young revolutionary took his place on Sienna Kahn's throne, before the latter's body was even taken away. She was likely still warm to the touch as Hazel Reinart cast one last look at what he deemed an unnecessary sacrifice, telling Adam that nobody needed to die, there, that day.

"I...disagree." Adam leaned back, proud and seemingly incensed by the act he committed. After the splinter groups of their faction had completely failed to win his good graces with their efforts, he needed a sense of accomplishment. His actions were not impulsive, though, but rather premeditated. He knew what he was going to do, the moment he set foot in the room.

"High Leader…" One guard knelt, acknowledging him and his new title. "What about the enemy in Mistral? Our cells have failed to carry out your orders to eliminate them, before they got to Haven Academy." he reported, as unbeknownst to Hazel, who had already left, it was Adam himself who gave the seemingly rogue groups of White Fang the permission to attack and to make it appear as if they were acting separately from the rest, to try and deal with Qrow and the students from Beacon. Something their former High Leader would surely have not approved of, just as she did not approve of the attack on Beacon Academy. A show of restraint and principle for which she was deemed unfit to lead.

"They'll be right where we'll want them to be, when the time comes for Haven to fall. And they will fall with it." Adam ominously stated.

The very guards that served Sienna, only mere minutes ago, were now carrying her seemingly lifeless body and as they passed through a narrow, torch-lit passage of their headquarters they failed to notice a small twitch of her hand.

...

Everyone had trouble falling asleep that night and the morning did not come fast or comfortably enough for any of them. The revelations of the previous day, of an immortal man, a secret war, an evil behind it, were not easy to believe and accept. And they still have not heard it all. Not of the relics and some of them have yet to learn of the maidens. Of magic.

A soft, cautious knock that was barely audible came on Winter's door, in the spare room they could rent for her. She was already awake, sitting in front of mirror.

"Yes?" she asked without turning.

"Uh, it's me. Ruby." Came the slightly muffled squeak from the hallway.

"Enter." Winter prompted her and Ruby carefully opened the door to peek inside. She blinked in surprise at Winter's appearance, as the latter had her hair lose.

"Wow. You look like Weiss." Ruby commented, as Winter turned towards her, remembering how Weiss always slept with her hair undone, as well and how it looked almost like a shoulder-cape.

"You don't say." Winter replied, slightly dryly at the observation. "Is there something you need?" she asked.

"Well, uh, breakfast'll be ready, soon, if...you wanna...join us." Ruby told her with some nervousness, not sure of the mood Winter was in.

"Thank you. I'll be there, shortly." Winter appreciatively said and turned back to the mirror. A few seconds passed.

"Uh, okay." Ruby acknowledged and figured she was not going to say anything more to her. She quietly closed the door. Winter glanced at it, aware the girl was simply trying to be friendly and as she put her hair in its usual bun, she decided she would make an effort to be slightly less abrasive, at least, with her. She adjusted the accessory one last time, then left her room. From the hallway, she could already hear the clamoring coming from the kitchen and dining room.

Stepping into the house's lounge she could see the children were preparing their morning meal. Jaune and Yang were finishing setting the table. With one hand, Nora was destroying oranges, squeezing the juice from them into a decanter. With the other, she kept dipping into the jam that Ren was keeping her away from, with his free hand, while he was making a pancake with the other. Ruby and Weiss were standing next to each other, gingerly cutting up vegetables for a salad. They were also preparing a large pot of ramen.

Winter noticed the absence of Qrow and Oscar, then spotted the two conversing, outside, at a wooden railing on the side of the cliff that overlooked a valley. From Oscar's posture and the way he was holding the cane behind his back, she could tell Qrow was not talking with the boy, but with Ozpin. Winter felt a sense of resentment as she looked at Qrow. She was not particularly fond of the man, to begin with, but the fact that he had been privy to such knowledge and most likely had been, for a while, was something she found angering. She realized, as she tried to sleep last night, that Ironwood also had to know what they did, but she could not be certain how long he had known. She remembered the way he ordered her to leave Ozpin's office, after her and Qrow had their altercation. Back then, she did not think much of it, only that she was likely dismissed to prevent any further conflict between them. Now, she had an idea of what went on behind their closed doors and it upset and worried her, at the same time. She sensed the silence in the room and turned towards the children to see some of them were giving her concerned looks at the way she was glaring out the backdoor.

"Seriously? Did you wake up with that face?" Nora cocked her head and Winter gave her a smaller glare. Ruby saw where she had been directing her attention and went to open the door to call her Uncle and Oscar in.

"Uncle Qrow, Oscar! Breakfast is ready!" she yelled, stepped back then poked her head out, again. "Oh, the Professor, too!" she added.

"I...don't think he'll be eating much." Weiss pointed out and Ruby shrugged. Qrow nodded towards the door, for Opzin.

"Eating. One of the meager pleasures of life, I had to miss, for a while, every time I merged with another soul." Ozpin commented and let Oscar surface.

 _"You mean, until you and...all the others, before me, became one."_ Oscar understood, as he carried on their conversion on the inside.

" _Yes."_ Ozpin replied.

 _"I'm just glad you didn't say you have to miss it, every time."_ Oscar knew what that would have implied as they started to go inside and he slowed with every one of Ozpin's sentences.

 _"I've always felt guilty, after every life my soul sought out and changed. Even if they eventually answered that calling and were willing to do what the world needed them to, my curse still took them from their lives, no matter how mundane they thought it was that made them want to do more with it."_ Oscar stopped and so did Qrow, who raised a brow at him. _"I know you did not want to spend your life working on a farm. And however quaint that existence may have been for you, I had no right to force…this on you."_ Ozpin told him.

 _"I...know I did not really have much of a choice. I mean, it was either this or let the whole world end. Who would say no?"_ Qrow could tell from Oscar's expressions he was talking inside.

 _"A less gracious person would call that an_ _ **ultimatum**_ _. And they would not be wrong."_ Ozpin paused. _"Thank you, again, for bearing this burden, for all of Remnant, Oscar!"_ he added.

" _We're just starting, right?"_ Oscar outwardly shrugged, not any more confident, but not any less, either.

 _"I would say we have made more than a first step, already."_ Ozpin said and Oscar gave a slight nod to that. He looked up at Qrow, who figured they were done talking and opened the door for Oscar and followed him in. Qrow sauntered past Winter and the two exchanged a brief, silent look of mutual disdain. Oscar halted in front of her and looked up.

"Morning...Miss...Sh-schnee!" he stammered, after Ozpin reminded him of her last name.

"Morning...Oscar." Winter replied, after feeling certain it was him and not Ozpin." Oscar awkwardly kept averting his gaze as Winter looked as if she was almost literally trying to see into his soul. To see Ozpin.

"Come on, you two!" Yang called for them. Two of them sat on three sides of the table, and three of them on the fourth. Ruby sat with Qrow, adjacent to Oscar and Yang. Followed by Jaune, Nora and Ren. Then Winter and Weiss, rounding back to Ruby.

"Did everyone sleep okay?" Ruby asked as they sat down and looked around the table to get an uncertain 'Umm' from Weiss and a groan from Jaune.

"As best we could." Ren nodded, with a slight smile.

"Considering..." Winter quietly added.

"What's sleep?" Nora perked up.

"Best sleep I got, since..." Yang let it hang, as everyone understood what she meant.

"I slept like a baby." Qrow leaned back, holding his flask.

"So that was all the wailing I heard." Yang folded her arms, slyly.

"Hmph." Qrow let it bounce off. Then everyone looked at Oscar for his response and the latter nervously noticed all eyes were on him.

"Um..." Oscar thought for a second. "I...feel like I'm a new person?" he timidly tried to joke with a shrug and got odd looks and a small laugh from Yang.

"Good one." She encouragingly slapped him on his arm with the back of her cybernetic hand.

"Let's eat, then!" Ruby exclaimed with a smile. The salad bowl went around the table and everyone portioned some. Some watched with intrigue as Yang used her new arm to do it. And everyone raised a brow when Jaune reached for the bowl with his gauntlets on.

"Uh...sorry." he said and quickly took them off.

"We never even take those things off." Nora pointed out how they always do everything, even eat or prepare food, in full gear. Weiss glanced to the side when she felt Winter shift next to her and she watched as she quietly took her gloves off. Winter noticed her stare and gave her a subtle glare when Weiss could not hide a small smile.

"Well, some even bring suitcases with 'em." Yang smirked at Weiss, who gave her a small frown, as the bowl was passed to Ren, skipping Nora.

"I like the new dress!" Jaune casually told Weiss.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed.

"Thank you." Weiss quietly replied, looking down and to the side.

"It's kinda dark, though." Nora chimed in, eating her pancakes. Ren paused and continued as a slightly awkward silence followed. Weiss cast her gaze in down, until Yang spoke.

"Looks like everyone had a wardrobe change." she stated. "Except for the old man." she smirked at Qrow, who gave her a small glare.

"And her." Nora nonchalantly chewed as she pointed, with her fork, at Winter, who raised a brow in mild offense. It briefly disappeared as she took the bowl from Ren and focused, instead, on taking her portion from it, then passed it to Weiss.

"We should go into the city, after breakfast!" Ruby told Weiss and she looked up at her as she spooned the salad for herself. "We can get you a new scroll! And look at all the stores! If...uh...if we have time." Ruby glanced at Qrow and Opzin, in Oscar, somewhat pleadingly. Qrow also looked at him, deferring to his opinion if they could allow themselves what seemed like a luxury. Oscar seemingly listened for a second.

 _"We have two months until the start of the next semester. A day or two will certainly not impede our efforts to prepare. If anything, all of you deserve and need unwinding."_ Ozpin told Oscar, who nodded with a smile, in answer to Ruby.

"I'm gonna have t' make sure you don't go running up t' every merchant, whose goods look _too good_ t' be real." Qrow said. "Stop you from burning all your Lien on cheap knock-offs."

"I can shop... _responsibly_!" Ruby leaned back, folding her arms and held her nose high.

"I remember a few shop-keeps, who would say otherwise." Weiss noted and Ruby pouted.

"Even if we count that old guy as _one_." Yang said with a light snort.

"We spent more money on maps than anything else, since we've been in Mistral." Jaune commented. "We've all lost one, at least once." he added with a sheepish smile. "Too bad we can't, like, turn into birds and see everything." he added and Qrow nearly spat his spoonful of salad out. He started coughing and took a swig from his flask to sooth his throat.

"Sorry." he quietly said as Winter gave him an only mildly disgusted frown.

"Uncle Qrow, you have to eat the whole plate, even if you don't like salad!" Ruby told him, like a parent, thinking he had a problem with it.

"Yeah. Yeah." Qrow muttered, without even having to pretend, as he actually did not like salad.

"That, um, reminds me..." Oscar spoke up, as Ozpin did in his head, remembering that no one at their table was aware of Qrow's ability to shapeshift, amongst other things. "We still have to tell them about...some things."

"Oh, yeah." Qrow also remembered Yang, Weiss and Winter were still not completely filled in on the lore. "Well...Oz likes telling stories." He leaned back. "He can catch the rest o' ya up, later." He quickly got himself out of having to retell everything. "You kids wanna go int' the city, right?"

"Aha!" Ruby nodded, glancing at Weiss, who nodded back as Ruby began shoveling her breakfast and Weiss stared, before she calmly continued hers, smiling at Ruby unchanged habits.

"And while we're there, I can hit up a few contacts t' see if they can help us. Since Leo ain't very likely t' get anywhere with the Council." Qrow said.

"But, the Mistral Council..." Ren tried to say what Qrow already expected someone would.

"Doesn't own every huntsmen in the Kingdom." he interjected.

"And we're supposed to simply trust them?" Winter asked, being cautious.

"You can trust 'em to put up a good fight." Qrow shot back.

"What _for_? What _exactly_ will we tell them about who we are fighting? And why? We're not simply defending an Academy. That much is obvious. And I wouldn't mind knowing the real reason, myself." Winter told him, with some frustration as Weiss and Yang were also still unaware of what exactly was at stake.

"And you're goin' to! Then you'll wish you didn't." Qrow ominously fixed her with a glare and Winter mirrored it, after furrowing her brows at his warning. Weiss glanced between them.

"What could be even more difficult to believe than what we've heard, yesterday?" she asked, also looking at Oscar.

"It's not any harder to wrap yer head around. It's just… _a lot t' take in_." Qrow looked at Ruby, at the end, quoting her. "Heh. All those kids who get picked on for believing their bed-time stories can have the last laugh!" he added.

"What?" Weiss gave him a quizzical look, wondering what the fairy-tales of everyone's childhood had to do with what they were going to be told.

A lone raven took off from the window seal it was perched on. Qrow's eyes snapped towards the sound and he caught a glimpse of it, then frowned.

"You'll see." Jaune replied, more somberly, then gave a small smile. "So….how was it back at Atlas?" he asked.

"That's right!" Ruby exclaimed. "Yang told me your dad came to Beacon to take you home. I-I didn't even know, 'cause I…um…" she trailed.

"Ruby got…knocked out." Yang said. "Qrow took us home. She only woke up after it was all over." she explained. Weiss could see Ruby felt bad about not being there.

"It's okay. You couldn't have stopped my father, anyway. Nothing ever does." she said to the side.

"So…was it bad?" Ruby could see on Weiss' face that her time back at home was not like hers.

"Well…" Weiss went into explaining how their butler Klein was the only person she could trust and be honest with. She retold how her brother was essentially turning into the same person her father was. And then she related how the man was handling everything that has been happening with the Schnee Dust Company, how she was no longer the heir to it and how the General was behaving. She described the infuriating callousness of the people of Atlas and how little they cared about anyone but themselves.

After Nora doubted the story of her summoning a Boarbatusk in the middle of a party, Weiss demonstrated the ability at the table. After mentioning the General's intervention and his words supporting Weiss' way of thinking, saying she was the only one making sense, Yang noted how she owed her new arm to him, as well. She proved its strength and its unusual functions by beating Nora in an impromptu arm-wrestle match by ejecting her arm and firing it straight at a wall, with Nora still holding it. Winter patiently remained at the table with Ren and Jaune as Ruby cheered her sister and tried to get Weiss to do it, as well. After that, they finished the rest of their breakfast, while the other members of team RNJR told their perspective of their fight with the unique Nuckelavee Grimm. They filled themselves to the brim in their reminiscing.

"Uhh…I'm think I'm going to be sick." Jaune drowsily lifted the large empty pot to carry it to the sink.

"Woah, easy there vomit boy! I believe in you!" Yang playfully told him.

"Oh-ho! We're doing nickname throwbacks, now? Wonderful." he rolled his eyes as Weiss quietly chuckled.

"I mean…the Ice Queen seems to like it." Nora said and Weiss stopped laughing. She looked at Ruby to see she was giving her a weak smile, while Yang barely stifled a laugh and Weiss glanced away.

"I _so_ did not miss you people." she said, not hiding her own smile and Ruby's grew. Nora faked a gasp.

"Oh, my gosh, she really _does_ _ **like**_ _it_!" she put her hands to her face as she dramatically exclaimed. "What went and warmed _your_ heart, while you were gone?"

"Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible." Weiss replied.

"Nah, just a lot to deal with, at once." Yang told her, matter-of-factly and blew her tongue when Weiss frowned at her.

Ren reflected on how they all changed compared to their very first day at Beacon Academy and that they have all grown, both as individuals and as a team.

"So, yeah. Turns out Ren can get pretty deep when he talks a lot." Ruby remarked and everyone laughed.

"So...you kids ready for your last day-out?" Qrow asked and with the exception of Winter received some worried looks.

"Did you _have to_ put it like that?" Yang replied, dismayed.

"As crude as the question was, I'm afraid Qrow is right." Oscar spoke with a tone that immediately showed all of them that it was Ozpin. "You should all take this day to reconnect and...reminisce. From tomorrow forward..." He stood and began slowly walking around the table. "We must focus all of our attention on the task at hand. To gather more information. At the same time and even more importantly, we have to get all of you into fighting shape." he stopped behind Ruby and straightened himself, hands behind his back, as everyone made a strange face and they exchanged looks.

"But...we already know how to fight." Ruby stated and nervously leaned back in surprise as Ozpin bent down to stare her in the face, through Oscar's eyes.

" _You_ can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but are lacking in hand-to-hand combat." Ozpin stepped back and moved around towards Yang and Jaune.

"Well, yeah." Ruby admitted, with an embarrassed shrug of her hands and shoulder.

"Miz Xiao Long..." Yang braced herself. "I trust your father have already told you you're overly reliant on your semblance."

"Pretty much." Yang muttered over her shoulder. "I'm working on it." she added more firmly, turning as Ozpin passed behind her to Qrow, who raised a brow, challenging him to make a critique. Without saying anything, Ozpin took the flask from his hand and placed it on the table, mirroring Qrow's previous, challenging expression, as the latter was giving him a mild glare.

"Mr. Arc..." Jaune's face showed discomfort and some annoyance. "I'm glad to hear you have improved, but I'm sorry to say you have yet to unlock your semblance." Jaune turned embarrassed and Ozpin moved on. "All of you have ways to go before you can pose any real threat to Salem and her forces. And though Oscar can grant me temporary control, I will have to strengthen both his body and his aura."

 _"What!?"_ Oscar exclaimed, inside.

"He will inherit my muscle memory, in time. But, training will expedite the process." Ozpin added.

"But, if Qrow's gonna be busy looking around the city for huntsmen, who's gonna train us?" Yang chanced a nervous glance at Winter, clearly hoping she was not the obvious answer.

"Well..." He looked at Winter near him. "While Miz Schnee's considerable experience will be invaluable..." He tapped his can and launched himself into the air, spinning. With a back-flip he landed on the sofa and began twirling his cane on the side, like a propeller. "I believe I _was_ the Headmaster of Beacon Academy." Ozpin voice echoed through Oscar as he cunningly smiled at their surprised expressions. Winter's face quickly returned to its resting frown, almost sharing Nora's bored face, as both were less than impressed by the unnecessary display. Oscar resurfaced and immediately lost his balance on the cushioned seat that made him fall on his back.

"You've...got to be kidding me." he groaned.

"Well…we'd better check out the city, before we have to _fight_ our way through it." Yang said.

"And y' call _me_ a downer." Qrow commented.

"Field-trip!" Ruby jumped in excitement, feeling like they were back and Beacon.

"I'll call Neptune." Jaune said. "Maybe they can show us some good spots."

...

At the nearest market, Weiss smilingly shook her head as she followed Ruby with her eyes, while the latter was darting between the stands with such speed she may as well have been using her semblance. Jaune was texting Neptune with their location, while Ren quietly walked with him and Nora giddily skipped and twirled around them, occasionally stepping up to a stand whenever something caught her eye. Qrow and Yang were keeping an eye on Oscar, who still looked uncomfortable wading through the crowded streets and squares. Winter was keeping herself at an equal distance from all of them, but less so from her sister, scanning their surroundings for any potential threat. She and Qrow both ended up walking along an elevated walkway, avoiding each other's glances. They overlooked the streets, with more merchants and shops lining the walls behind them.

Ruby noticed Weiss stopped to inspect a merchant that was selling jewelry. She joined her as she looked at rings and bracelets. The merchant followed her gaze to a narrow-shaped, elegant silver ring with a small ruby in it.

"Ah, may I interest you in this conservatively thin form, made of graceful silver, with a small, not too boastful ruby." Ruby snickered at the description and the coincidental parallel in it, to herself and Weiss gave her a side-glance.

"I could buy it for you." Ruby grinned.

"Please, Ruby...I have mon...uhm..." Weiss went silent as she remembered something and Ruby tilted her head. "I...actually _don't have_ any money." She looked at her feet, momentarily disheartened, but then with a sigh and determined look, she raised her head. "I didn't need my allowance, back at Beacon and I don't need it now." she firmly told herself.

"So...I'm buying, then?" Ruby asked with a little, smug smirk and Weiss lightly frowned at her immediate teasing.

"Ruby, you don't have to." Weiss tried to talk her down.

"We'll take it!" Ruby abruptly slammed a stack of Lien on the table, surprising both Weiss and the merchant.

"You don't even know the price." Weiss pointed out and Ruby sheepishly smiled at the merchant, who took a careful step back from her and took the ring from the display. He handed it to Ruby and gave her the change.

"You really didn't have to use your money. You earned all that!" Weiss still protested.

"Told you we did lots of bounties!" Ruby smilingly shrugged as if it had been easy.

"Exactly. You worked hard for that." Weiss said.

"And now I'm buying things." Ruby shrugged, again.

"But-..."

"No buts!" Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand. "So...which finger?" she asked her.

"Um..." Weiss uncomfortably shifted, fully aware of how it all looked. Her hands twitched from her nervousness and Ruby saw her ring-finger move.

"This one?" Ruby asked, moving the ring closer.

"N-no!" Weiss exclaimed, nearly panicking and moved her index-finger to her. "That one." she told her and Ruby slipped in on for her.

"There." She smiled. "It fits, right?"

"Yes. Thank you." Weiss said, inspecting the ring, with a small, still nervous smile and an almost imperceptible blush.

"Sure." Ruby grabbed her arm with both hands. "Now, let's get you a scroll!" she said and pulled her along. Winter and Qrow were standing above them, having observed the scene.

"Your niece is very... _innocent._ " Winter told Qrow, pausing to find an apt word that was not too negative. "Which is surprising, considering _you're_ her uncle." she added, a lot more derisively.

"Tch. And she'll be better off stayin' that way, than turnin' out like either of us." Qrow muttered to her, walking away and Winter was about to take offense, but stayed silent as she found it odd that he included himself. She gave a small glare, but she was not entirely unsure of what he meant. Although, she could argue that given what they have already had to deal with, the children were going to be forced to grow up faster than they, or their families, would like.

...

"Ou'h little troublemak'ehz seem to be enjoying a day-out." Watts walked up to Lionheart, as they stood on the latter's balcony.

"Yes. Some of my student just left to join them." Lionheart confirmed.

"That blue-haired boy seemed particula'hly quick to excuse all of them from you'h office, wouldn't you say?" Watts asked.

"They _don't know_ anything." Lionheart wanted to believe, not only for his own sake, but for his students', who he knew would all be put into immediate danger, if it became clear they suspected him of colluding with Salem and her associates.

"Can you be ceh'tain of that? Rath'eh, would you want to be?" Watts was implying it would be an even greater mistake for Lionheart to convince himself, first and then try to reassure him and Salem, all just to be wrong, in the end. It would make him even less reliable. "Should the boy come he'eh, without an esco'ht, would you keep up the charade or could you take ca'eh he would never grow up to be the next Ozpin? Hmm?"

"Th-they would never let him come back here, alone." Lionheart hoped they would not. He was not sure he had it in him to do what Watts and, indeed, Salem, would expect of him. On the other hand, he already had many lost lives on his conscience. People who had put their trust in him, including Ozpin. One more may not even be as difficult as he feared it would be and so he quickly abandoned that trail of thought.

"And why wouldn't they? Nothing but a few innocent students and their caring Headmaster, here." Watts preyed on Lionheart's guilt and he could see his inner turmoil on his face.

...

Oscar was standing in front of a mural depicting the hills, valleys and fields of Mistral, as the crowd was milling around behind him.

 _"Nostalgic."_ Ozpin said.

"When was the last time you've been here?" Oscar asked, assuming it was long ago.

 _"Not that long."_ Ozpin candidly replied. _"When the Kingdom last hosted the Vytal Festival. The Headmasters always came together for the occasion. Not merely for tradition or even to discuss the war we fought behind the eyes of the world. We kept a bond that existed before and transcended both."_

"Like _them_." Oscar found the others with his gaze as he listened.

 _"Indeed. It is why such a respite from the fight is as important as waging it. We must never forget what it is we are fighting_ _ **for**_ _."_ Ozpin said.

"You two talking in there or what?" Yang stepped up to Oscar with half a smirk, making him jump, as she was still far from being used to the reality of it.

"Kind of." Oscar weakly smiled.

"Look!" Yang nodded behind him and Oscar turned to see Neptune, with Sage and Scarlet, coming towards the rest of their group, waving to Jaune, who was waving back, over the crowd. "Let's join 'em." she said and started walking to them.

"Sis!" Ruby came from the side, with Weiss.

"Finally!" Yang exclaimed. "I could barely follow you two. Where'd you go off to?" She was a little worried.

"We found a scroll for Weiss!" Ruby said and Weiss held up her new device.

"You found it or you bought it?" Yang joked, then noticed the ring on Weiss's finger. "Huh? Where'd that come from?" She pointed at it and raised a brow as Weiss averted her eyes.

"I got it for her." Ruby said. Yang blinked, looked at Weiss, once more, then snickered. Weiss gave her a small glare. "What's funny?" Ruby was confused.

"Nothin'. It looks nice!" Yang said, approvingly as they caught up with the others. "Hey, boys!"

"'Sup!" Neptune gave them a dashing smile. "You ladies shopping?"

"We were." Ruby replied. "Weiss has a new scroll, so you can call her, now." She gave a light laugh.

"Nice! I'll give you my number." Neptune said and Weiss handed him her scroll that already had Ruby as her first contact in it with a grimacing picture the latter took of herself.

"So, you guys got any sleep?" Yang asked as Neptune handed Weiss her scroll back.

"Ah...well...more than we thought we'd get, anyway." He looked at Sage and Scarlet to see if they agreed. "So...I guess that's a good thing." He gave a light shrug.

"What about Leo?" Qrow came up. "Is he acting all weird?"

"He's...not. Not any more than yesterday." Neptune said, not having noticed anything unusual.

"Guess _that's_ a good thing." Qrow repeated his words.

"We're not gonna...get another huge info-dump like yesterday, right?" Neptune looked somewhat nervously at Oscar.

"Not today." Qrow replied.

"Oh, good." Neptune said, relieved and then cheered up. "Then you guys won't mind if we give you a tour of the city." he offered.

"We got all day." Yang placed a hand on her hip.

"Excellent! Right this way, then!" Neptune took charge and led the group through every notable spot with Sage and Scarlet. Compared to last night, there were considerably more eyes on the streets. Both Weiss and Winter received some stares and whispers, but most people either did not recognize who they were or they showed no care, which meant less attention for all of them.

Weaving through the colorfully-clad citizens of Mistral, they visited its landmarks and historical sites, while Neptune gave them some quick information at every stop, acting like a proper guide. Ozpin would occasionally speak up, in Oscar's head, verbally recalling his memories of those same places, some of which Oscar could see as thought they were his own. Ruby was taking pictures, the whole time, with her scroll, often pulling up to Weiss or Yang to include either one or both them in the frame or all three of them, saying she could not wait to show it all to their father.

At one of the stops, an old library, Yang noticed a few cat-Faunus walking by, carrying books. Their sight made her stop and when she came back from her thoughts, she saw she had broken off from the others, who were standing in front of a building, listening to Neptune. She walked over to a nearby railing, from where she could see the valley below, the forests and even some of the nearby villages. She was lost in her thoughts, again and did not see Qrow had joined her.

"Ya know, I figured you'd come looking frr yer sister. I mean, why else would you come all this way, huh?" Qrow implied something with his question that Yang did not like.

"I wanted to find her, obviously." Yang replied.

"Sure – Sure. It's just a nice coincidence that _Raven_ also happens t' be around these parts. Bet yer dad wasn't too happy I let that slip. Heh." Qrow said. Yang remained silent, not wanting to give her uncle the satisfaction of knowing he had her pegged, even though he knew he had. Instead, she decided to pry some more information from him.

"You and mom grew up out there, right?" Yang asked, gazing out at the land and Qrow took her question as small-talk, but was still careful about how much he would say.

"Yeah." he replied. "You could say the family we had was…pretty big on campin'. We slept more often in tents than between four walls."

"More like, you weren't really welcome in any village or in the city." Yang knew more than Qrow thought and the latter was a little surprised.

"Damn it, Tai." Qrow muttered and sighed. "Anything else yer dad told you?"

"Maybe." Yang was not trying to be coy and her tone suggested she was not happy with the information she was given. Qrow knew he could only blame himself, for telling her where to look for her mother, in the first place.

"Look, just don't get your hopes up. Raven's-..." Qrow started.

" _Complicated_. I know." Yang repeated her father's word.

"No, you _don't_." Qrow warned her. "I'm not sure _I_ know her, anymore." he admitted, after their last meeting.

"Well, that's just great." Yang dryly said. Yang barely knew her mother as it is, but, now, even her own uncle seems uncertain of the person she had become. However, that was not going to keep her from tracking her down. She wanted to see the woman and look her in the eyes for answers she had since she left her.

"Yang! Uncle Qrow!" They heard Ruby call and rejoined the group. Despite her priorities, Yang had not forgotten, nor had she set her goal of finding her mother aside.

...

Half-a-day flew by and it was already in the afternoon when they returned from where they started. They were not completely tired from all the walking, to which most of them had gotten used to, over the past few months.

"Well, they say the best thing after a good meal is a nice walk!" Jaune commented, upbeat, no longer feeling sick, after their large breakfast.

"So, I don't have to worry about my boots, then?" Yang teased him, bringing up their first day at Beacon, again.

"Nope." Jaune confidently said. "Unless we go on an airship, again." he added.

"Hey, maybe we _could_ take a ride. I didn't exactly see the city from up there, like you guys." Yang said.

"Great idea!" Neptune agreed.

"Fine. But, everyone will be responsible for their own boots." Jaune folded his arms as he declared in a mock serious tone.

"We're practically signing a waiver, aren't we?" Weiss asked with a little worry.

"Yep." Jaune nodded and they laughed. Finding the platforms where the city-tours were launched from did not take long. Airships were leaving at every half-hour to take the passengers up and around.

"Alight. You kids go on." Qrow stopped before they got to the line that formed at the ticket-booth. "I'm gonna pass."

"What? You're afraid of a little flying?" Yang smirked, but Ruby had a suspicion why her uncle did not want to board an airship with them.

"Yeah. Let's go with that." Qrow rolled with it.

"But, Uncle Qrow…we got here on a ship and…nothing bad happened." Ruby pointed out to him.

"You go and have fun, kiddo. I'm not feelin' up fer it. Besides, I've seen the view plenty o' times." Qrow was not even lying, as he literally saw everything from a bird's eye-view enough times.

"Oh-kay. Your loss, old man!" Yang told him, slung an arm around Ruby and Weiss to queue up as Qrow rolled his eyes. Ruby glanced back at him with sadness.

" _Now that she mentioned it..."_ Oscar was thinking as they stood in line with the others. _"Nothing_ _ **bad**_ _really happened, since yesterday."_

" _It doesn't happen on a whim."_ Ozpin noted. _"I_ _ **have**_ _tried to establish a pattern in it, once. A frequency by which accidents occurred, around him as well as their severity."_ he noted.

" _Seriously?"_ Oscar raised a brow.

" _After a while, he…found it annoying."_ Ozpin admitted with some uncomfortableness and Oscar had an even stranger look that Winter noticed as she stepped up from behind him when he did not move ahead. He stared up at her, in surprise.

"S-sorry." he apologized and moved forward, feeling her piercing eyes on himself. _"Hh-oh, I feel like she could freeze me."_ he groaned on the inside.

" _Literally so."_ Ozpin said.

They finally managed to get aboard the next ship and started their round-trip. Qrow slipped Oscar some money, before they set out, which he used to pay for his ticket. Winter was the last to step on the vessel, as the rest of the line mysteriously disappeared from behind her. Enough people recognized her and kept their distance, turning nervous from her mere presence. A behavior she was not oblivious but accustomed to. Weiss partially received the same reaction and uncomfortably shifted, next to Ruby, who picked up on it.

"Hey, it's like Vale and the school, right?" Ruby nudged her.

"Only a lot more people." Weiss muttered. During their one year, she could care less about the attention people were giving him. She knew what most of society thought of her family and what many probably thought of her and she did not care to prove them wrong, then. But, that was changing.

"Don't pay attention to them." Winter spoke. "You don't need their affection or their approval."

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "They don't know you."

"Only my name." Weiss looked at the deck. "It's enough for most people to make their minds up."

"And they're wrong." Ruby briefly grabbed her hand and Weiss appreciatively nodded, then gazed at the sight below them, as Winter looked at them. Meanwhile, down on the ground, Qrow attempted to reach a few of his huntsmen contacts through his scroll, without success. He sighed, after a number of his calls would not even connect and with a look of suspicion, he stopped trying, having a bad feeling.

...

Their tour stretched into the afternoon, lasting about as long as a slow lunch would have. The marvelous sight more than made up for the high winds. While descending towards the platform the airship started from, they spotted Qrow, who was lounging on a rooftop, with his hands behind his head.

"How'd he get up _there_?" Neptune asked. "There are even less places to grab onto than...um...the dorms at Beacon." he said and was silent for a second, giving a silly smile to Ruby, Weiss and Yang, who recalled how he and Sun climbed all the way up to the window of their room, once. By the time they disembarked Qrow was already waiting for them with a sour expression he did not care to hide, nor did he explain what put him in a bad mood.

...

They made it back to their place, where they had a wholesome, albeit late, lunch that the children prepared and their reminiscing continued throughout it. Winter stood, as she finished.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked.

"I'm going to ask the owner if they can possibly provide ironing equipment." Winter replied.

"You're gonna have t' do it yerself, ya know." Qrow told her, briefly coming out of the funk he was in. "No servants, _here_ , t' do it for ya." he added with a smirk. Winter flared her nostrils at his remark with a deep breath and turned to walk out, barely able to control the urge to slap him with a wall of ice. Weiss frowned and Ruby internally growled at Qrow, with her mouth full. He shrunk some, his satisfaction passing. They enjoyed their siesta, in their own way. Winter ironed her attire. Qrow was sprawled on the sofa, where he nearly fell from when Ozpin addressed him through Oscar, wishing to speak to him about his sudden mood change, since their sight-seeing tour. Ren meditated as Jaune and Nora napped. Yang headed out, on her bike, telling everyone she was only going for a joyride, but Qrow figured she had a lead on her mother.

...

Everyone was still in the middle of their rest. Oscar was about to lay his own head down for some. Winter just finished ironing and Qrow dozed off, again, when the entire building shook. Qrow nearly fell off, again, in alarm.

"What now?" he mumbled as Winter appeared from the hallway, a hand on her sword. The rest of the children came running in, as well, most of them looking equally as ready for a fight as her.

"W-what's happening?" Oscar worriedly glanced at all of them as the building shook, again. They followed the tremors outside to find Ruby and Weiss locked in combat with each other.

The wall-shaking explosions came from Ruby's rifle as the fire-dust round in it hit a small swarm of lancers that Weiss sicced on her, finishing them all. Qrow groaned and sighed at the same time.

"Are you two _serious_?" he sleepily exclaimed, surprised they would spar so soon, when they were also given a whole day to relax. "You couldn't wait till tomorrow?" he asked, but he knew they would not hear him or care. They gave each other cunning smiles and continued. Weiss stabbed her rapier into the ground and a summoning glyph appeared. Ruby looked on, intrigued, as the same armored knight she saw at the airfield appeared. Her eyes widened when it suddenly and rapidly began to grow in size, towering over her in mere seconds.

"Wow." she whispered.

The Arma Gigas loomed over her with a broadsword that was equal in size to it. Weiss started controlling it and it swung at Ruby, whose flips and dodges quickly proved to be inadequate to evade the shockwaves made by the impact of its attacks. She started shooting it, as she darted around with her semblance, but even the bullets the knight could not block with its sword did little harm to it. It drew the massive weapon backwards preparing for what Ruby thought might be a wide swipe.

She launched herself high into the air, surprising Weiss with a mobility she had not seen from her before. Ruby zig-zagged around in mid-air, trick-shooting with her rifle behind her back, to make the knight either shield itself or attempt to swing up at her. At one such opportunity, she dove, like a comet and slashed the Arma Gigas' side, wounding it, to which it immediately responded with a kick that Ruby was not expecting and barely had time to brace herself for. She tumbled back, stopping herself by burying the blade of her scythe in the ground.

Weiss summoned glyphs that began shooting icicles at her to keep her on the run and to eventually drive her into the Gigas' attacks. Ruby escaped into the air, once more and Weiss summoned a small swarm of Lancers, again, that immediately shot their harpoon-like stingers at Ruby. She was alarmed by the new attack, but quickly formulated a plan and propelled herself straight towards the projectiles. She became a red blur and to Weiss' astonishment she split into three, snaking past the stingers and the lancers, all the way down to the Gigas' feet and swung her scythe at it, stopping a mere inch from it. Ruby pulled the trigger and used the recoil of her rifle to swipe the Gigas' leg, throwing it off balance. She jumped, kicking it with both feet and pushed herself off from it to trip it, then used her semblance to speed around it, creating a tornado that lifted the Gigas off the ground, helplessly suspending it, in the air. Weiss stared in shock at her summoned creature being rendered defenseless and incapable of attack.

She watched as Ruby flew above it, blowing the lancers away with the wind she generated and with a swing of her scythe. She pointed it down at the knight, the blade of it rotating to take the shape of a spear. Ruby thrust downwards, impaling the Arma Gigas through the chest and slammed it into the ground, falling with it as it feebly clutched at her weapon, crashing to its knees, where it gave in and its arms went lax, along with its head. Ruby was balancing on her scythe until the Gigas evaporated.

"D'ah!" she yelped as there was nothing to support her and she unceremoniously fell on her butt with a grown.

Weiss hurriedly walked to her side as Ruby was massaging the sore spot. To Winter's surprise her sister was not sour about her defeat and was, in fact, smiling as she helped Ruby to her feet, pulling her up by her hand.

"Well done." she told her with respect.

"That giant swordsman was amazing!" Ruby threw her hands up and squeezed Weiss into a hug, briefly lifting her off her feet and her eyes went wide, until Ruby put her down.

"Thanks. I see _your_ semblance has improved a lot, too." Weiss commended her.

"Yeah, well...I can't do anything cool like _that_!" Ruby humbly praised her.

"Nonsense. You can practically fly with it." Weiss said.

"And you could ride one of those Lancers." Ruby shrugged and Weiss blinked in surprise.

"I...hadn't even thought of that." she admitted as she realized she could do it.

"That was amazing." Oscar whispered. "Is that what...professional huntsmen can do?" he asked.

"Pretty much." Qrow said.

" _Although, I would not call them professional, yet."_ Ozpin said, in his head. _"Both of them_ _ **are**_ _exceptionally talented, however."_

"So...all those amazing things they can do...that's a semblance?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah! It's like your very own super power!" Nora told him, bouncing next to him, as Ruby and Weiss walked up to them.

"First that Boarbatusk, now those Lancers. How can you make Grimm like that?" Jaune asked.

"It's called Summoning." Winter spoke. "It's one of our abilities."

"Our?" Ruby tilted her head.

"Everyone in our family has the same semblance." Weiss said. "Our glyphs."

"I'm sure you have already seen how versatile it can be. It allows us to affect the material world in a myriad of ways." Winter added. "Including the ability to summon foes we defeated in combat."

"But...then what was that huge knight?" Jaune asked. "That wasn't a Grimm."

"It was possessed by one." Winter stated. "A Geist. It took over a suit of armor and with it provided the perfect test for Weiss' abilities." She looked at her sister. "It was no simple combat practice but a graduation. The original armor also had more bulk." she remarked. "It was a challenge she did not easily overcame." Everyone's mouths were slightly agape.

"We bagged one of those ghosties a few weeks ago for a bounty." Nora noted, hands on her hips.

"It possessed a bunch of rocks, like...a giant golem." Jaune gestured with his hands.

"Petra Gigas." Winter stated, familiar with, at least, some of its forms. "Not many are able to effectively disable its parts to expose the Geist itself." She paused, giving Ruby and them and quick glance. "Impressive." she added.

"Oh, she _likes_ us!" Nora put her hands to her cheeks, pretending to blush and Winter gave her a deadpan stare.

"If you two're done, I'm gonna get back t' my nap, while we still have four walls and a roof over our heads." Qrow told them. "Tomorrow's gonna be-..." He was cut off when a black and red portal appeared in front of him. In alarm, he reach behind him to grab the handle of his sword.

"Raven." he muttered, expecting his sister to step through, but they were all surprised when they heard the sound of a motorcycle and Yang came rolling out.

"Yang!?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Where did you just…come from?" Weiss paused as the portal vanished.

Yang took off her aviators and gave Qrow, then Ozpin a frown, before her expression softened as she looked at her worried sister. Qrow, of course, knew where she had been and that she might not be in a good mood, because of it.

"We're gonna have t' sit down fer _this_ one." Qrow stated and Yang's frown deepened.

...

"Miz Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?" Ozpin asked as they sat in silence, after he told Yang, Weiss and Winter about the relics and the Maidens to then confirm what Yang was told by Raven.

"Pretty much." Yang sat with her arms folded. "Except the part about the relics." she added, having already heard of the Maiden from her father. "But, you forgot one thing. You didn't say what you did to my mother and Qrow." she added with obvious misgiving.

"Oh, great." Qrow muttered, somewhat nervously.

"What is she talking about?" Ruby asked.

"That...is not a secret I thought she would give up so easily." Ozpin stated. "She must trust you a great deal." he smiled at Yang, who could not really return it.

Yang heard her mother's side of things and was even willing to listen when she tried to convince her to not blindly trust or follow Ozpin and his seemingly futile quest of fighting Salem. Raven was not entirely surprised she already knew part of the truth. She did not have to feel as if she had any less chance of convincing her daughter to join her, for long, as Yang told her that she was never going to side with her or forgive her for abandoning their family. She told Raven that even if she had not made it to Mistral and found Ruby, she would have remained her main concern. Her father told her about Raven's semblance and how it worked and Raven was both impressed and insulted to hear that Yang would have only used her as a shortcut to find Ruby, through Qrow, who she knew was keeping an eye on her.

"My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, is not without a few key benefits." Ozpin started to explain. "Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain magical power. Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to _see_ more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I...well...I gave them the ability to turn into birds. Rather ridiculous sounding, out loud, isn't it." He chuckled to himself.

" _You_ _ **what**_ _!?"_ Oscar asked, almost mortified.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby looked at him.

"You turned them...into birds?" Ren slowly repeated.

"Alright, _now_ you're just messing with us." Nora said.

"What else is new?" Jaune folded his arms, having had enough of hearing more secrets.

"It's true. My mom...changed right in front of me." Yang recalled her mother demonstrating her shape-shifting ability to her, in a rather dramatic, yet anticlimactic fashion. "But, why would you do something like that to someone? What is _wrong_ with you?" She raised her voice.

"Yang!" Qrow stepped up. "That's enough. We made a choice. We wanted this." He defended what was their decision. "May I?" Ozpin asked Qrow if he would allow him to continue and Qrow nodded and he took a few steps. "Granting this power to them was no trivial task. And I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear." he explained his reasons.

"Okay, so have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood or Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked.

"As helpful as that might be, unfortunately it is not that simple." Ozpin replied. "My power is finite and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my magic for good. They...were the first Maidens." His revelation was predictably met with silence as he was standing next to Yang. "Miz Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to...play close to the chest. I believe that's how you've phrased it." He looked at Qrow.

"Heh. Yeah." Qrow nodded and Winter abruptly turned from the group and started walking out of the room.

"Winter?" Weiss called after her.

"I..." Winter paused and turned halfway back. "Need some air." she said and left the building. She obviously had difficulty absorbing the information.

Ozpin went on to tell them how the Branwen twins were given a duty that one of them chose to abandon in pursuit of her own selfish desires. They were given a choice to accept the responsibility of knowing about Salem and fighting the war against her. And the students were being given the same one.

"There's no shame in abstaining, only in running." Ozpin said and Yang stood.

"Yang?" Ruby cautiously asked, thinking she was either going to storm out the door or hit someone. Or both.

"If Ruby stays, I will, too. Somehow she always knows the right thing to do." Yang said and Weiss nodded, looking at Ruby, in agreement. "But, if we're gonna do this, if we're gonna risk our lives, then no more lies, no more half-truths!" she firmly told Ozpin, who exchanged looks with Qrow.

"Very well." he agreed to be more forthcoming with any relevant information.

"So, what should we do?" Ruby asked.

"As we have agreed, that is something we will address, starting tomorrow." Ozpin replied.

"The training?" Yang asked, with a bit of a groan.

"Indeed." Ozpin said and stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Until then, be sure to spend as much of the remaining time as possible reconnecting with one another. No need to start combat practice, now." he meaningfully glanced at Ruby and Weiss next to Yang, who noticed the wordless exchange.

"Huh? What'd I miss?" Yang raised a brow.

"Uh, we kinda...had a fight." Ruby shrugged with her hands up and Weiss had an impish smile.

"When?" Yang gaped.

"After you left." Weiss stated.

"We were bored." Ruby said.

"You could've taken a nap." Qrow grumbled, as his was rudely interrupted by their sparring. Ozpin chuckled and phased out, letting Oscar back, who noticed he still had his hand on Yang's shoulder and the latter was smiling at him. He gasped in alarm as he pulled his hand away and stumbled back, getting a chuckle from Yang.

"Quit doing that!" he exclaimed, looking to the side and talking to Ozpin, as it was not the first time he left him in an awkward situation. It got a few more laughs from the others, as well.

"So, how did you manage t' find Raven so fast?" Qrow asked.

"It was luck, I guess." Yang shrugged and Qrow made a face at that. "I stopped at a gas-station and some slimy guy started hitting on me. After a knocked his teeth out, he heard who I was looking for and he showed me the way to their camp. His buddies even tried to ambush me. I beat 'em and then they took me to mom." she recapped.

"That was...easy." Qrow was surprised how little time it took.

"Only 18 years." Yang dryly said.

"Did you see anyone who was...different from the rest? Someone who didn't look _ordinary_ , maybe? Not like a run-o-the-mill bandit." Qrow asked.

"Yeah, actually." Yang gazed in front of her. "There was this girl...I think mom called her...Vernal. She had this cool tattoo, like a firebird or something. Mom had her serve tea for us, but it was like she was her second-in-command or something. They seemed… _close_. The other bandits were definitely scared of her. Before we went into a tent, I...started a fight, inside the camp and she broke it off. She just...shot a _lightning bolt_ in the ground, from nowhere. Even the sky was clear." Yang told him. Qrow looked at Oscar.

 _"Vernal. A rather fitting name. Perhaps too fitting. It could be her. Spring."_ Ozpin said to Oscar, who nodded to Qrow.

"You think that girl's a Maiden?" Yang asked.

"Could be." Was all Qrow would say, as they still could not be completely certain.

"Mom didn't sound like she'd help. And then she wan'ed to get rid of me really fast, for some reason. I think something was up." Yang mentioned.

"What d'you mean?" Qrow narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know. There was some shouting. Mom took a peek outside, then she suddenly went an opened a portal for me and told me to get my bike and get out of there. She wouldn't tell me what was going on and I wasn't gonna argue with her, anymore…or with a free, instant trip back." Yang shrugged.

"Maybe they were being attacked." Jaune guessed and Yang just shrugged, again, as there was no way to know.

Little did they know that while they had their discussion, Raven had an unexpected meeting and she had struck a deal with Cinder, who forced her way into their camp, with Emerald and Mercury, accompanied by Watts. Unsurprisingly, Raven only pretended they had made an alliance and she also set her sight on the relic at Haven.

No one could fall back into their nap, except Qrow, who went to his own room. Oscar was lying awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling and likely having a conversation on the inside. The rest of the children sat together in the living room.

"So, which one of you _skirts_ , won, anyway?" Yang asked Ruby and Weiss, with a smirk.

"Oh, we weren't fighting, like, _seriously_." Ruby waved it away.

"So, _you_ did, huh." Yang deduced and Weiss gave her half a frown, but appreciated that Ruby did not even take it like a great victory or at least not one she would ever constantly lord over her, as it was not in her nature, in the first place. A humbleness that began affecting her, while they were still at Beacon. "I need a nap." Yang slowly rose. "Don't think I'll get one, but...I'll try." she said, sounding tired, more so mentally than physically.

"And I'll go and see if I can find Winter." Weiss stood. "I hope she didn't go too far into the city or I'll never find her in this place."

"I'll help!" Ruby told her.

"Us, as well." Ren nodded.

"Maybe she's just standing out at the front, glaring a glacier in the wall." Yang quipped and Weiss looked pointedly at her as she passed her.

It actually took them a few minutes, until they found Winter. She was staring somewhat angrily, not at a wall, but out into the distance, deep in thought, at a lookout spot. They accompanied her back and decided to load up on some groceries on the way.

...

Late in the afternoon, Ruby was lying on the ground, out in the backyard, watching the birds in the air, when Yang appeared, leaning over her. She let her long blonde mane hang, touching Ruby's cheeks and started swaying it, tickling her."Boop!" she exclaimed as Ruby giggled and the little game brought back some fun memories of their childhood.

Weiss soon joined them with a tray, carrying three mugs of coffee. She slightly knelt to let them take one each and told Ruby she specifically remembered to make hers with what she called a blasphemous amount of sugar.

"Ah, yeah. Nice Weiss strikes, again!" Ruby jokingly told her reaching for her mug that Weiss held away.

"I _will_ pour this in your lap and it _will_ hurt." she playfully threatened her, with the hint of a smile. Ruby carefully and nervously took it from her, not completely convinced she would not do it. Their conversation started harmlessly enough, but it quickly became heated, when Blake was mentioned. Yang's lack of care for her absence turned into hostility when she was told to calm down and she snapped at Weiss, her eyes turning red. Ruby called after her as she went back inside and was soon followed by them.

They found her sitting on her bed, sulking and both felt that her outburst was not just because of Blake, but about her recent encounter with her mother. They sat on either side of her and Weiss attempted to understand her anger, but when Yang told her that Weiss, at least, had a mother growing up, Weiss thought she would relate her childhood to both her and Ruby, in a way she never did to anyone. She told them how her mother quickly grew cold and distant from the rest of them, because of their father's controlling nature, escaping into drinking, making less and less appearances, not only in public, but with their family. It was as if she was never around.

While it was different from Yang's situation, it was not dissimilar. Yang could appreciate that Weiss could actually relate to her and Ruby's situation more than either of them thought. Ruby hugged her sister and Weiss leaned against her. Yang sighed, more relaxed and cracked a smile to which Ruby responded by trying to stretch her arms in an effort to reach around and hug both her and Weiss. A groan from the latter told her she succeeded with ample force. Outside their door, Winter had been silently listening to it all and she quietly walked away, closing her eyes with a braver face than how she was actually feeling inside, unsure if she would have had the courage to tell anyone what her sister did. Maybe, the problem was that she never had anyone to tell it to and confide in.

...

At dinner, there was much less reminiscing, as they have already exhausted most of their stories, both of their time at Beacon and of the time they were apart. They all retired to their beds, later and fell asleep with as little success as the night before.

...

After breakfast, the children were eager to begin their first training session.

"Hey, you better watch yourself!" Yang playfully told Oscar as she and Ruby stood facing each other, in the backyard, preparing to spar hand-to-hand and he gave her a nervous stare.

Ozpin thought it would be better for Ruby to practice with someone who also had a lack of experience, as there was more opportunity to learn from mistakes made on both sides. After finally connecting with a punch, Oscar felt the repercussions of neglecting to consciously use his aura, as Ruby hit his face, in retaliation, and he fell to the ground with a groan.

 _"You forgot to engage your aura, again."_ Ozpin told him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Oscar asked, out loud.

 _"Because this method will make you less likely to forget."_ Ozpin stated. _"Mind if I give it a shot?"_ he asked and took control, his eyes flashing, as his demeanor became instantly more confident.

"Not bad, Miz Rose." Ozpin's echoing voice said as he smiled through Oscar's visage. "But, Oscar doesn't have the _years_ of experience _you_ do. Or **I** do." He told her, briefly closed his eyes as he activated his green aura that flickered to life. The others got concerned.

"Oh, um, maybe we should, uh, take a break." Ruby nervously said, holding up her hands and inching away. Ozpin would not let her off easy and engaged her, with several punches that Ruby could block, at first, but her defense quickly faltered and the last punch connected. Ozpin leapt and feigned a punch, only to kick Ruby in the side of the head that was fortunately absorbed by her aura without actually hurting her. She jumped and went for a punch that Ozpin ducked away from and Ruby swung at empty air. Her surprise was short as Ozpin stood, head-butting her on the way up with the move and Ruby fell flat on the ground and the others winced. Yang frowned.

"The next time you attempt a left-cross, remember to push off with the appropriate foot. And as always, do be aware of any openings." he lectured Ruby.

"Got it." Ruby groaned, still on her back.

"Hey, you wanna try that with _me_?" Yang asked and Ozpin looked at her, seeing she was simply being protective of her sister.

"As interesting as that would be, it is Oscar's stamina I'm using and I believe it is at its limit." Ozpin said and Yang huffed as he released control. Oscar fell to his knees.

"How is this so exhausting!?" he exclaimed, on his hands and knees as Ruby went to help him up.

"Your body isn't used to this kind of training." Ren said, sitting cross-legged, as he meditated. "Not to mention generating a defensive aura. It takes intense concentration, at first. But, in time, it becomes second nature. Allowing you to deflect attacks and to heal your wounds. After that, you can begin focusing on your semblance. Whatever that may be."

"So...how many of these are there?" Oscar asked.

"Every semblance is unique." Ren replied. "Some may be similar but none of them are exactly the same. A common philosophy…is that a warrior's semblance is a part of who they are. Some say your personality and character can define your semblance. While some say it's the other way around. Of course, there are still many who don't see a connection, at all." He paused.

"But...How will I know what it is?" Oscar asked.

"You will." Weiss assured him. "Although, discovering it was... _easier_ in my family." she realized.

"I was under intense stress, when mine first activated." Ren mentioned.

"And mine just kicked in while we were practicing at school, one day." Ruby said.

"What about you?" Oscar asked Nora next to him.

"Oh, got struck by lightning, didn't die. Craaazy Thursday." Nora waved it off and Oscar looked at Yang.

"Same as my sister. I figured out I get stronger when I'm hit by anything. I take all the damage and dish it back twice as hard." Yang raised and clenched her fist as she said it.

"Ren can hide emotions. Ruby's superfast, lightning makes _me_ stronger and Jaune, um..." Nora trailed off.

"Jaune's like you." Ruby nudged Oscar, seeing Jaune was ashamed of himself. "He hasn't found his semblance, yet. But, we all know he will! And you will, too. We all just have to try and help each other get stronger." she encouragingly told both of them and exchanged a smile with her sister and Weiss.

"I just don't understand what's wrong with me. I train. I meditate…" Jaune shook his head, downcast and Oscar's eyes flashed as Ozpin surfaced.

"Don't worry, Mr. Arc!" he said, as he placed his hands behind his back, holding his head high. "Your journey is far from over." he told him, supportively. "And the same might be said for all of you. Unlocking your semblance isn't the end. It can still grow and evolve, as Miz Rose and Miz Schnee have demonstrated, yesterday."

"That...reminds me..." Weiss started. "I've always wondered what _your_ semblance was, Professor."

"It was an interesting one, if I do say so myself." Ozpin smiled. "In fact, it was quite similar to the time-dilation glyphs of the Schnees that they have used for generations." he raised a brow at Weiss and glanced at Winter.

"You...knew our family in a previous life?" Winter asked, not entirely surprised, now that she knew he had many.

"Yes. You're grandfather, Nicholas, was a good friend of mine. He had a particular fondness for history. And the wisdom to learn from it." Ozpin replied, with an air of respect and knew that every sentence only turned Winter's well-organized worldview upside down. She mostly succeeding in hiding her awe. Her eyes only flickered as she took a deep breath and kept her thoughts from racing and turning into a hundred more questions. She briefly turned away to let her troubled emotions show as little as possible on her features, then looked back at Ozpin more composed.

"Phh. Makes ya wonder why you need someone t' teach history from the staff." Qrow spoke up as he joined them. "You could just handle those classes yourself."

"I _have_ done so, in the past. Before the first combat schools." Ozpin noted. "After a while, I...needed to delegate." he smilingly added, then more seriously. "Hence why I needed not only more colleagues, but more _allies_. And to provide every new generation with the means to _also_ make history. Now...shall we continue?" he asked and relinquished control to Oscar.

"Yeah! Let's break these boys in!" Nora had a wicked smirk as he looked at Jaune and Oscar. The latter gulped.

"Oh, I'm broken in." Jaune confidently folded his arms. "Sharing a room with _you_ for a year kinda did that on its own." he told Nora, but his joking aside, he could not help but think of the person who really helped him come a long way and how much he owed and missed her. Nora just grinned even more and looked at Oscar, who froze, again.

Weiss and Yang were roped in, after Nora took over the session as the drill instructor, something they hoped would not become a trend, as her methods were more about working every limb and other body part until they could not feel them and less about technique and form. Though, Ozpin did stress that, in Oscar's case, his body had to be toughened up, first. Getting repeatedly hit by Ruby did not do much to lift his spirit, tough, only when he could successfully counter her, with increased frequency.

"Ozpin was right. Oscar's picking this stuff up, fast." Jaune noted, at one point.

"Round two, Princess!" Yang smirked as she engaged Weiss.

"Maybe…I should train…with Ruby." Weiss spoke as she was fending Yang off, again.

"Sorry! That dance…is already…taken." Yang kept swinging and kicking at her, as Oscar and Ruby also kept trying to outmaneuver each other. Both pairs moved around the yard, as they bobbed and weaved and Weiss was trying to keep her distance from an unrelenting Yang, then pushed back by cutting her off with a wall of ice she formed between them. Yang punched through, only to come face-to-face with a Boarbatusk that was already scraping the ground with its hooved foot and reared up to charge. Yang rolled out of its way as it rolled past her and turned to face it, keeping track of its movements. She backed into someone, then whipped around to see it was Ruby. Their surprise quickly vanished and they smirked at each other, before switching places. Weiss and her summoned Grimm were now facing Ruby and Oscar saw, with due worry, he was up against Yang.

"Um…I'm…uh, i-it's me!" he held up his hands, reminding her he was not Ozpin.

"Excuses…" Yang muttered with a slightly menacing smile as she cracked her one knuckle, which made Oscar even more nervous.

To Weiss' surprise, Ruby did not go to retrieve her weapon, but chose to keep fighting hand-to-hand and began, somewhat still clumsily, boxing her. Weiss was not used to sparring with her in such a way and could only push her fists away, awkwardly using her palm and her rapier to block. Ruby barely had any breath left, but actually started giggling as she kept attacking Weiss, who gave her a weird look. It soon stopped and Ruby was holding her side, out of breath.

"Ouuh…my side hurts." she said as the air was stuck and it stung.

"Because you weren't breathing properly." Weiss shook her head and folded her arms. Ruby plopped down on her butt and lied down. She tried to slow her breathing, still letting out small laughs and closed her eyes with a smile. Weiss shook her head, again and also smiled.

At the same time, Oscar was on the defense, warding off Yang's assault, with his hands and aura. He was shutting his eyes less and less and was becoming more adept at positioning himself, his reflexes sharpening faster than what could be considered normal.

"Quick-learner, aren't you?" Yang smirked. After a few more blocked attacks, Oscar drove Yang's next punch to the side and with his other hand, struck a fist across her face, surprising her. He then froze along with her, as he realized her aura was not even engaged. Yang was probably too confident in herself, considering his lack of experience and she slowly turned to stare at him.

"Sorry." Oscar meekly said.

"Huh. Good one." Yang felt her cheek and gave him a slight, friendly smile. The hit was not nearly hard enough, but it showed how quickly Oscar could progress.

…

The table was mostly silent, around lunch time. Only Nora had the energy and an abundance of it, at that, to talk. Everyone else, excluding Winter, was beat. Qrow was absent from the table.

"Even my metal arm feels numb." Yang moaned, as she sat at the table and let her metal prosthetic fall on it with some force.

"Maybe we overdid it a little." Weiss thought, out loud. "It was only the first day of training."

"You have set a standard you _will_ have to keep yourselves to." Winter stated, telling her they would have to push themselves harder than ever before.

"I knew I should've pretended to be more out of breath." Jaune muttered. "Worked great when I needed a break from running laps at school." he added.

" _Feigning_ weakness may be a cunning plan in battle. _Showing_ it can be fatal." Winter replied and Jaune's eyes went wide.

"And I thought Qrow was a mood-killer." Yang commented. "Good thing you two aren't on any dating sites." she added and Winter gave her a cold glare.

"Where'd he go, anyway?" Nora piped up.

"He's, uh, he's looking for his huntsmen contacts." Oscar replied. "He said he couldn't call _any_ of them, yesterday."

…

Everyone took some rest after their lunch. Winter remained in the living room, where she busied herself with whatever reading material she could find, including those she could reach via her scroll. She also chose to stay in the main area to guard against any intruders, in case any would be bold and opportunistic enough to threaten them in their downtime. Qrow managed to hit up the addresses of the first few names on his list and it took him the better part of the afternoon to do so, even on wings.

…

A crow came flying in Oscar's window, in the late afternoon and he sat up in bed to look at the suspicious avian perched on the single table in his room. Sure enough, Qrow was suddenly standing in its place, leaning back.

"Um…bad news?" Oscar asked, as Qrow did not look he had much success.

…

Winter was resting on the sofa, eyes closed that snapped open when she heard someone walk in and she quickly stood, reaching for her weapon only to see Qrow's slightly mocking smirk.

"Sorry, did I wake ya?" Qrow asked and Winter frowned, but then it occurred to her she did not hear him come in.

"When did _you_ return? You couldn't have come through door. _How_ did you get in?" she assumed her interrogative voice, again.

"Bugs you, doesn't it? Trade secret." Qrow egged her on and Winter glared, knowing it was pointless to demand answers.

"I'll…um…I'll be in the practice room." Oscar said and headed to a room, adjacent to the rest of the building that had dull training swords and an area in the middle for sparring. Soon after he left the room, Winter and Qrow stood in silence and he flipped down on the sofa, knowing she would not stay in the same room with him, which she did not.

…

The children came out of their rooms, around dusk, to start preparing dinner and immediately noticed Oscar was not present. Qrow told them he went to practice, sometime before they came out and Ruby went to see what he was doing. Oscar was swinging Ozpin's cane around. Despite the exhausting work they already put in that day, he was off practicing by himself. Qrow's lack of luck finding and enlisting any further aid to their fight worried Ozpin, as well and it caused Oscar to take training even more seriously than before. He did not want to be a burden, even though everything he had already seen and heard was overwhelming.

Ruby told him dinner would be ready soon and Oscar decided he had enough practice, for the day, anyway, as night fell. When he told Ruby he only fought small Grimm before, Ruby, in turn, told him he was a natural fighter. Oscar mused how he only had the cane for a few days and, yet, it felt like he had it for a lifetime and even longer. He reckoned he sounded like a crazy person and Ruby did not particularly assuaged his worry, but told him that at the pace he was progressing he would be combat ready in no time. She suddenly lost her cheerful attitude and looked sad, as the phrase she said reminded her of Penny. She attempted to excuse herself and go back upstairs, but Oscar stopped her by asking how she handled it all. He admitted to being more scaref than he ever thought he could be and that he always wanted to be more than just a farmhand, but questioned who, in their right mind, would want the kind of life, with the kind of responsibilities that they were taking on. Even though he was accepting of the path he took, Ozpin sensed his inner struggle to actually keep his grip.

When Ruby agreed that none of them asked for any of it and tried to tell him they would have to simply press on, Oscar askef Ruby how she could remain so confident, when people tried to kill her and when the world was about to go to war, again. How could she be okay with any of it? Ruby told Oscar about losing two of her friends, Penny and Pyrrha, the night Beacon Academy fell. That they were two of the most kind-hearted people she had ever met and why they lost both of them. Oscar already saw Jaune's anger towards Ozpin, over Pyrrha's death. And as Ruby was finally opening up about her own feelings and how scared she was, of Salem and what she could do to the people she cared for, Yang and Weiss were both leaning against the wall of the stairs, listening to how Ruby had been hurting, all this time, despite the face she put on and they looked at each other as Ruby went on. How she was sure that if it had been her who lost her life, her friends would have carried on fighting, the same way, as that is what they all chose to do, no matter how dangerous it was. To keep moving forward. Ruby shed a tear and her smile returned. So did Oscars. She told him they should hurry to dinner, before Nora ate everything, again and that was Yang and Weiss' cue to get back up the stairs, as well, before they were seen. Before going up, herself, Ruby reminded Oscar things will not be easy, but she also reassured him that the fact he was still with them said a lot about him and that he was braver than he thought he was.

" _She really is remarkable, isn't she?"_ Ozpin asked.

"Yeah." Oscar agreed. "She must've been one of the best huntresses, at Beacon, huh?" he asked and Ozpin chuckled.

" _In some ways, yes. But, in many others…no. She has her quirks, her faults, just like everyone else. But, she also possesses something unquantifiable; a spark, that inspire others, even in the darkest of times."_ Ozpin replied.

"This must be really hard on her, too." Oscar realized.

" _It most assuredly is."_ Ozpin said.

…

The next morning, Yang walked out the back and saw Ruby practicing, hand-to-hand, with Ren, while Nora was menacing an uneasy Weiss. Winter was observing from a lawn chair and Qrow was away, still trying to find his huntsmen contacts. She noticed Oscar was standing near a tree, his posture the same as Ozpin's. Yang slowly walked around, next to him, arms folded.

"Hey." she said.

"Morning!" Oscar smiled up at her.

"Oh, it's you." Yang said in mild surprise. "Could've sworn it was the Professor."

"He keeps saying a good posture is important." Oscar stated.

"Tell _that_ to someone after hours of training." Yang muttered. Oscar's eyes flashed.

"Gravity is hardly an insurmountable force, Miz Xiao Long." he spoke.

"Oh, hey." Yang acknowledged him. "I wanted to talk to you. So, you were the old hermit, from the Story of the Seasons." she recalled yesterday's revelation.

"I...prefer _recluse_. But, yes." Ozpin said.

"Was just wondering how a guy like you got cooped up in a house, away from everyone. You got jaded or something?" Yang teasingly said and had a small grin. Ozpin gave her a side-glance and chose his words.

"Not to open fairly recent wounds, but as young as you are, Miz Xiao Long, I believe you have already experienced, at least, a fair bit of _jadedness_." he told her and Yang blinked at him, before looking away, with her head down and face darkening. "Imagine slowly falling further down that seemingly bottomless pit, for hundreds and thousands of years, losing hope, trust and the will to carry on with every one, knowing it would not end." Ozpin's voice echoed stronger with every sentence and Yang suddenly felt bad about joking about it. "And there were days when I wanted nothing more than for it all to end. For the _world_ to end. By _any_ means. Because it would have meant that **I** could finally end." Yang looked at him in shock. "Admittedly, those were not my proudest of moments. But, with every generation I have learned to look for hope. Though, I lived many lifetimes and lived many lives, some lessons still came from those who had learned them in but one. Including ones about…forgiveness." he meaningfully turned to look at her, before turning back to watched the others train, referring to other individuals, like them, throughout his long existence and also, as Yang sensed, to Blake. She understood his meaning and why Ozpin placed such importance on the bonds between people. On never being alone with one's struggles and never letting the trust between them be severed.

…

The next few weeks were spent doing the same routine. They went out for groceries, after every few days, always in groups and never alone. They had breakfast, over which they would plan the day and what they would focus on in their training. They would take time to recuperate, either with naps or by playing board-games and reading. Neptune, Sage and Scarlet would come by, every so often, to see how they were fairing and to report on the apparent lack of suspicious activity from Lionheart. They would go into the city, not to see more of the sights, but to visit specific establishments, where they would try the local cuisine and see more of the diverse culture. Weiss, in particular, would often end up almost literally being pulled in two different direction by either Ruby or Neptune. The former would suddenly grab her and would nearly fly into a store with her to check it out, leaving a gaping Neptune standing in the middle of a street. At the same time, Watts would also keep an eye on their comings and goings, deliberately doing little to alleviate Lionheart's fears of his betrayal being exposed. He said he would be damned if he was to let himself get worked up over the danger's that Cinder's petulance could pose to their plans. After all, the fault would lie solely with her, should it all _fall_ apart. _Pun intended_ , he thought.

Qrow continued to search the city and even the surrounding villages and slums for any of the contacts he could reach, becoming increasingly more frustrated and suspicious when he could not find any of them. He met both mothers and fathers, left alone with their children, who were still waiting for their loved one to return from a job. Qrow could certainly empathize with them, the most. He knew most of those living higher up, not only metaphorically, but literally, cared little about the plight of those below them. There were barely stacked stands, where the downtrodden tried to sell their meager possessions, when they ran out whatever food they could grow. Those who kept the faith and spirit up in them were the exact people Qrow could not find. A lot of the huntsmen and huntresses who hailed from the poorer parts of the city and of the kingdom never forgot their roots and they would return to protect those who could not escape the cage they were born into. Qrow figured he would not find all of them, but he did not expect he would be unable to find anyone of them.

When he was away, Winter would give the children advice, during their training. When they were both present, they would quickly start sniping at each other until it would devolve into an argument between the two. On one such occasion, they were standing in the doorway and were at each other's throats, again, as Oscar was making his way out to the backyard to join in the training. He sighed, along with Ozpin and his eyes flashed as he walked up to them.

"I cannot believe how any institution would even _think_ of allowing you on its staff!"

"Right, 'cause they're fallin' over 'emselves wantin' t' hire _you_."

"I'm not _looking_ for a teaching profession."

"And why would you. You're obviously overqualified. Too import'nt t' rough it in a common classroom, teachin' the kids of common folk anythin' besides how t' bow and scrape."

"As opposed to not teaching them any manners or _respect_?"

"Respect to _who_? The Kingdom of Snobs, their army or the ones supplying both, livin' off all of 'em?"

They were inches away from literally fighting, but then both of them noticed Oscar, as the latter cleared his throat, standing with his can behind his back, in front of them, giving them a peculiar smile.

"Oz?" Qrow assumed and a second latter felt a sharp pain in his heel, along with Winter. "Ough!"

"Oww!" Winter also yelped and stood on one leg grabbing her ankle as Ozpin hit both of them with a fast cane-trike. They were both balancing themselves on one leg, gaping at his smiling face.

"You are disrupting the class." Ozpin's voice echoed and he looked past them at the children. Qrow and Winter turned to see Ruby and Weiss, in particular, were snickering, though Weiss tried to hide it. They composed themselves, but both kept glaring, not only at each other, but at Ozpin, as well and they went in the opposite direction, each to the railing on either ends of the backyard, facing away from everyone.

"Whoever said opposites attract was _way_ off." Yang commented, folding her arms, then looked at Ruby. "But, then, again…you and Weiss got off on the wrong foot, too." she added.

"Yup. And not we're besties!" Ruby grinned with a silly face at Weiss, who silently smiled.

"Wow, she's not even objecting, anymore." Yang smirked and Weiss fixed her with a small glare, but a small smile was also there.

"Those two could learn a thing or two from you, wouldn't you say?" All three turned, as a smiling Ozpin walked up to them, his mannerism showing in Oscar's posture, with his hands and cane held behind his back.

"What's their deal, anyway?" Yang asked.

"Yes. Back at Beacon, they seemed to know each other, already." Weiss noted.

"Indeed." Ozpin confirmed. "And if there is…an _opposite_ to a _spark_ between two people, they certainly had it, from the moment they've first met." Ozpin noted with some amusement, then turned serious as he looked at Yang. "As you have learned from your mother about her and your uncle's upbringing, he has…an ingrained dislike towards figures of authority and those from high society. Attending the Academy and then travelling all across Remnant as a close confidant of mine sadly did very little to dull his disdain."

"Well, he doesn't really know my sister. No one ever sees her the way I do. The way she is when it's only the two of us." Weiss told him.

"True." Ozpin agreed. "In your sister's case, Qrow is unable to see past her position, her title and her name. Both have a side that the other one cannot see. We have to give them time to…let their guard down and to see each other for who they really are. And why."

…

The new semester and the day their adversaries were likely to make their move was fast approaching and they barely had more than two weeks to prepare themselves. Though their training was progressing well, Ozpin and Qrow could not help but feel there was something amiss, as the latter had been still unable to reach any of his huntsmen contacts. Lionheart's meetings with the Mistral Council and his efforts to petition for any aid yielded no results. Unbeknownst to them, the turned man was only pretending to be doing anything he could to find help, as it obviously would not have served Salem's interest if he had actually been able to convince the Council to allocate both human, material and monetary resources to a cause that would have required more than a simple explanation on his part to make it seem legitimate and worthy of the Council's attention. It had the unintended consequence of shifting the suspicion from Lionheart onto the Mistral Council and it made Ozpin and Qrow think that someone, _there_ , might working for Salem. Then an unexpected opportunity presented itself.

"Hey, look!" Ruby pointed to a poster on one of the buildings they were passing on their way to their usual grocery-shopping and everyone gathered around to see it was an announcement for a grand gala that was going to be held at the City Hall, by the Mistral Council, at the end of the week. They took one of the posters with them to show Qrow and Ozpin.

"Hmph. It's the upper class' annual _look-at-how-rich-we-are_ party." Qrow was not terribly impressed as he took a look at it. "Exclusively for Mistral's… _elite._ Heh. Maybe the Ice Queen would feel right at home." he commented and got a glare from Weiss, in her sister's stead, who was absent.

"It could provide us a chance to determine whether the Council is in any way compromised." Ozpin noted. "However, as you said, gaining entrances to the event may be difficult…for most of us." he added, with a pause and looked at Weiss, who froze. "I'm certain they would not decline anyone from the Schnee family. We have to ask your sister if she would be willing to attend. To be our eyes and ears inside."

"Well…I could go, too." Weiss gestured with her hand.

"I thought you would be…apprehensive, especially after the last event you had to attend, that you've told us of." Ozpin was surprised she would volunteer so readily.

"We're both used to being around...people like that." She glanced at Qrow. "I'll just…have to resist yelling at them." Weiss added.

"And siccin' a Boarbatusk at 'em." Yang snorted.

"Very well." Ozpin nodded. "We need only to talk to your sister, then."

"Hey, maybe they allow a plus one, or even a posse, if they can vouch for 'em." Qrow suggested.

"Perhaps." Ozpin agreed. "It would certainly make the rest of us be more at ease, if the two of you aren't alone in there." he told Weiss.

"It ain't a _club_ , though." Qrow held up his index-finger, with his flask in his hand. "So, there ain't no guarantee it'll work." he told them and took a swig.

"At any rate, two pair of eyes are better than none." Ozpin said.

"Let's hope Winter thinks so." Weiss said.

…

"I'll manage on my own. And I will definitely not be taking a partner with me! _Especially_ him!" Winter told Weiss, more vehemently with every sentence, when the latter suggested she and Qrow could obviously pass for a pair, after they would get Qrow a proper suit. She composed herself when she saw she was nearly biting her sister's head off, who was cautiously leaning away from her, then walked away. Weiss saw Ruby poke her head out around a corner of the hall and she was making her way to her, with an awkward smile.

"That actually went better than I thought it would." Weiss noted.

…

"Hm…" Watts was looking at an image of the poster on his scroll, his other hand behind his back, as he stood in the window of Lionheart's study, with the latter sitting at his desk. "I would attend, but I'm afraid my _reputation_ would precede me. I suppose you will have to make ce'tain they…find a new scent to follow. Or none, at all. Eith'eh way will be preferable, wouldn't you agree." he rhetorically asked, as the answer was obvious and Lionheart did not need to say anything. He sighed as he looked at his holographic screen that was displaying a rather lengthy guest-list for the event.

…

Ruby was walking up to Weiss' room and noticed the door was left open. She leaned inside, quietly calling out to her, but got no response. She stepped further in and looked around, seeing a dress on the bed that was similar to the one Weiss usually wore, but with the bottom part reaching all the way down, long enough to cover the legs. She glanced around to make sure the room was, indeed, empty and walked up to the bed, then picked the dress up. She held it in front of her and looked at herself in the full-length mirror in the corner. Weiss nearly entered the room, when she noticed her and she took a quick step back to watch her as she tried her dress. She suddenly had mischievous smile and stepped inside.

"Ruby!" she yelled and Ruby jumped, whipping around with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

"W-Weiss…!" Ruby shrunk from the glare Weiss was giving her as she briskly walked up to her. "I-I was just…" she tried to make an excuse, but her guilt and fear faded when she saw Weiss' lips twitch into a smile she could no longer hide and her eyes were laughing even before she began to quietly chuckle. Ruby blinked, having never expected she would pull such an act on her and she gave her a small glare. All she could do was throw Weiss' dress on her head that Weiss pulled off, still smiling as Ruby folded her arms.

"Jerk." Ruby muttered, but her hurt face quickly changed to mirror Weiss' expression.

"If we're going to this gala, then we have to get you a dress." Weiss suggested and Ruby awkwardly looked away.

"Uh…" Ruby was not sure she could wear one.

"I know it's not your thing." Weiss smiled. "But, they'll only let any of us in if we look the part. You won't even have to wear high-heels." she pointed out, remembering how Ruby could barely walk in them the last time she had to wear stilts. Not having to bother with them made it a lot easier for Ruby to agree to a new dress and she briefly lit up, before something else occurred to her.

"But…where can we get a dress?" Ruby asked, unsure.

"We can have one tailor-made. I'll…have to ask Winter to pay for it, though." Weiss noted, somewhat uncomfortably. "But, I'm sure she'll agree. We'll just have to find a place. There has to be a lot of them, in a city like this. We probably passed a few, too. We just weren't looking for them, then." she said and could see Ruby was certainly excited and only a tiny bit apprehensive.

…

"Ferget it! I'm not puttin' on a suit." Qrow told Ruby and Weiss, arms spread on the top of the sofa as he was leaning back.

"Yeah. Didn't really think you would." Ruby shrugged, having expected that answer.

"So, all of us will have to go to a fitting?" Jaune asked, not too thrilled.

"Yes." Weiss nodded. "If you really want to go." she added, saying it was not mandatory.

"Well, either we're gonna turn some heads..." Yang said, shrugging with her arms folded. "Or we knock 'em."

"Easy there, Fire-cracker!" Qrow told her. "We're gonna have t' keep a low profile...even if some'll have a pretty high one, already." he glanced at Weiss. "We don't wanna be too big of a sore thumb." he added and saw Yang raise a brow with a small smile and knew she was about to retort. " _Or_ beat anyone until _they're_ sore." he preemptively told her, leaning forward.

"Whatever. I don't really feel like going, anyway." Yang waved a hand, dismissively.

"Yeah. Me neither." Jaune declined, folding his arms with a saddened look, as he remembered the last party they had. Nora took a long step, over to Oscar.

"We're gonna put _you_ in a _suit_!" Nora rubbed her hands together with a devilish smile.

"Uh...I do have a choice...don't I..." he nervously tried to point out.

"Sure you do!" Nora exclaimed. "White tie or black?" She gave him his choices and Ren shook his head, pityingly.

 _"Sage-green."_ Ozpin spoke, internally.

 _"Not helping..."_ Oscar internally replied. _"And it would be...orange, anyway. Or white."_ he added.

"Nora, stop." Ren got her to back down and she did with a disappointed moan. "We will go, as well." he added.

 _"Maybe, next time."_ Ozpin said.

"I suppose, we'll make a day out of it." Weiss commented, with a smile. "I'll tell my sister and we can go, right now." she said. Ren and Nora nodded.

...

They went out, into the city's upper districts, passing a number of fancy clothing stores, until Winter found a suitable one, the pun being either entirely lost on her as she spoke the words, herself or she just simply did not find it amusing. She patiently waited as the children tried their suits and dresses. Weiss talked to the assistant, first, describing, in detail, the kind of dress she wanted for Ruby and after the latter picked a style and color, she personally talked to the tailor about additional details, most of which Ruby could not eavesdrop on. Ren did not fuss, at all and quietly tried a number of suits, but Nora was hopping in and out of the different dresses. The assistant tried to keep up with her, barely being able to measure her as she would not stand still.

...

"Perhaps he's hoping to use the gala to try and approach the rest of the Council for a more immediate response, considering a new semester will start soon. The safety of students has to concern them enough to lend more aid." Ozpin was telling Qrow, as they sat in the living room, with Jaune and Yang, who were on the sofa.

"Unless someone else is callin' the shots for 'em." Qrow suggested.

"I dread to think Salem could have gained such influence." Ozpin was terrified by the thought.

"You mean she hadn't, before?" Jaune asked.

"No." Ozpin shook his head. "Her reach never went that far. Not even with the individuals she acted through. In the olden days, she even had cults dedicated to following her and acting on her behalf. Now, her existence is known only by a select few."

"Maybe she didn't have people in the right places. Or she needed to wait a coupla generations t' finally get to one of 'em." Ozpin raised a brow, prompting Qrow to elaborate. "The academies aren't that old, right? There've only been a few headmasters. The Councils are older, sure. But, maybe they didn't have anyone she could get to. Until now." Ozpin had a look of worry as he considered Qrow's words.

...

"I'm actually looking forward to this." Weiss smiled to herself as they left the tailor. "If for nothing else, then just to see how the dress will look." she told Ruby.

"Thanks, Weiss! Hey, we can check shopping for supplies and new clothes off our list, now, huh?" Ruby nudged her and Weiss paused to recall what she was referring to.

"Oh. Right." Weiss smiled as they walked, then remembered the rest of what she, then, mockingly told Ruby on their first day at Beacon. "I'm _not_ going to paint your nails, though." She gave Ruby half a glare, with a small smile.

"Uh, no problem!" Ruby exclaimed, thankful for that, as well. Winter wearily looked at them, thinking it would have been too much femininity, even for her taste, then directed her attention back to their surroundings, not letting complacency get the better of her. Though they have not encountered any White Fang or any of Salem's henchmen - whoever they were - since they arrived in Mistral, it did not mean they were clear of danger.

...

On an airship, in an undisclosed location near the capital, other plans were being discussed.

"So, the Doc won't even get his hands dirty, huh?" Mercury was lounging in a chair, feet on the table as he flippantly wrote Watts off.

"Oh, he already has dirt and _more_ on _his_ hands." Cinder briefly smiled as she stood at a large window, knowing why Watts had lost his license and his reputation, falling from the graces of Atlesian society. "But, he doesn't know, first-hand, what that little wretch can do." Bitterness quickly seeped back into her voice. "I won't let her...do this to me...and get away with it." Emerald gave her a pitying look she dared not let Cinder see, as she stood, off to the side, close, but keeping at a distance.

"I thought _Her Creepiness_ wants her alive. I mean, I don't care, either way." Mercury said, shrugging with his hands behind his head.

"Hmph. She'll live. _Just enough_." Cinder's eyes glowed as she made the threat, thinking of her revenge.

"Maybe Blondie and I can have a rematch while we bag the little runt!" Mercury exclaimed, enthusiastic about a real fight against Yang, with no rules in the way.

"Break a leg." Emerald muttered and she probably would not have cared much if he broke one, again. Cinder gave the two a weary and knowing side-glance, certain Emerald would have been downright pleased if it happened.

...

In the Branwen tribe's camp, Raven was being questioned about her own plans, after she had been told their temporary allies were still stationed where they had been for weeks.

"Why wait? You could've just gone to the headmaster, right after they left." Vernal was referring to Cinder's visit, as she stood across from a sitting Raven.

"Lionheart already reports to Salem. I don't want him to spill anything, before we even set a trap for my brother and those kids." came the reply.

"One of them being your _daughter_." Vernal folded her arms, assuming Raven had second thoughts about involving her and she was wrong.

"She made her choice." Raven bitterly stated. "I'll set things up after they had their little ball. It'll be more convincing, then. They'll think he finally got the Council on his side. And if Lionheart's lucky, they'll also think the traitor is there. Not that it'll matter. Salem will dispose of him, either way, as soon as she gets what she wants and even if she doesn't." Raven predicted.

"So...you don't really believe they'll let us live if they get what they want." Vernal surmised.

"Of course they won't." Raven said, matter-of-factly. "That's why we need to get the Relic, first. It's the only way we'll stand a chance. If my brother and my daughter want to follow Ozpin on a suicide mission, that's their choice. And if we have to get through them, then we'll do just that. Whatever it takes...for the tribe." She gave Vernal a pointed looked, asking, without words, if she agreed and if she was willing.

"Whatever it takes." Vernal resolutely repeated.

...

With the daily training and walks in the city, the week rolled by as fast as any of the previous ones, without anything spectacular happening. Unless one counts the number of broken chair and table-legs, cracked floorboards, some pots and pieces of a number of roofs mysteriously falling on or near them. Add sporadically breaking pipes and kitchen fires, with the latter only sometimes caused by Ruby and once by Weiss. Qrow was getting looks from the children, with the exception of Weiss and Yang, who were still not told about his semblance. Winter was also none the wiser. Had she been, she would have actually had someone to freeze for the incidents she also fell victim to that included getting drenched by a bucket of water from a window they happened to pass under. Even Qrow was not sure if his semblance was the cause of that particular accident, but he was unabashedly pleased with the situation, either way.

On the day of the gala, the tailor was finished with the one suit and the dresses and by late afternoon they had them. The night was approaching as they started to get ready for their appearance. Weiss was already wearing her opera dress as Ren and Nora emerged from their rooms. The former wore black shoes, a completely white suit, with a green shirt under it, finished with a pink tie, reflecting his usual colors and his hair was tied in his old ponytail. Nora had a sleeveless, one-piece dress that barely reached her knees, showing off some of her thighs; its color matched the dark-blue of her bomber jacket, same with her dancing shoes, and her hair was unusually slicked back, touching the exposed upper part of her back. She would have turned heads if everyone was not already gawking at her. They had to turn when Ruby's door slowly opened and the latter timidly stepped out, in her usual boots, with a sleeveless, high-neck, red dress that reached just above her heavy footwear. At the top, from the collar-bone and up, it was see through, reminiscent of her old dress. On the left side, it had a large pale rose that had a long stem with leaves on it and petal shapes scattered on the other side.

"Nice!" Yang commented as Ruby came to stand in front of them.

"It's beautiful." Weiss admired the tailor's work and that her vision came through even better than she had expected. Ruby reddened some, at her words.

"I think...maybe the boots ruin it." Ruby said, uncertain.

"Don't be silly!" Weiss replied. "It suits you! You wouldn't be _you_ if you didn't wear them." she commented with a smile.

"Yeah. It completes your look." Yang said.

"Are we ready, then?" Winter asked, wearing her usual uniform, as she did not have a dress made for the occasion, nor did she plan on having one made.

"Ready to rumble!" Nora exclaimed, Winter gave her a look. "Or...you know...whatever fancy-pantsy people do." she added-

"They don't _rumble_ , for starters." Winter said. "We have to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible."

"Says the Schnee." Qrow could not resist pointing out and Winter gave him a glare, before she headed for the door.

"We'll follow 'em, just t' make sure they get in." Qrow told Oscar, Yang and Jaune, who all nodded. "I'll slip in, later." he added.

"How?" Jaune asked.

"I have my ways." Qrow replied, with a small smile but looked at Yang as he did. She lowered her eyelids, giving him a look that said she knew what he meant and probably Jaune did, too. He could, at least, imagine it, after hearing about it.

...

They saw the line of people that formed in front of the City Hall. Their eyes slowly followed it as it stretched all the way up a wide flight of steps to the building itself. Everyone was either overdressed or too revealingly clad, with jewelry of all shapes and sizes hanging from them; even some who wore kimonos, the oversized, glittering garnishes on them were clashing with the elegance of the clothing itself. But, rather than making any fashion statement, they were showing off their irritably obvious wealth, priding themselves on having a supposedly sophisticated taste and style by which many measured their net worth. Even Weiss made a face as they waded through.

Winter went ahead as the rest of them stopped to look around the square that was filled with reporters, bloggers, vloggers and even the gentry who fancied themselves to be part of the same crowd that was slowly being let inside, but were actually nowhere near to even just a step-ladder to that same socio-economic level, so they could not even hope to climb it, one day. Winter only noticed they were separated when she turned to try and bring them in with her, unable to even locate them in the sea of people that had already gotten in line behind her.

"Not good." Yang said from a bistro's balcony, overlooking the square.

"I can't see them!" Jaune exclaimed. "Even from up here." he added as Oscar looked around, noticing Qrow was suddenly not standing next to him. Then he spotted a lone crow flying over, towards the City Hall.

By the time Weiss walked up to the usher with Ruby, Nora and Ren, one thing became apparent as they looked at the slowly advancing people in front and behind them.

"Name, please." he told Weiss, holding a datapad.

"We're...not on the list. I'm Weiss Schnee and I have friends with me, who I would like to enter with me." Weiss politely said.

"I have to regretfully inform you...Miss Schnee, that we do not allow an entourage. Only _pairs_ are allowed." the usher emphasized. "You may most certainly enter...provided you have a partner for the event." Weiss looked distressed, for a few seconds, before she went with the only course of action that was available to her.

The large decorated doors of the hall practically announced every new arrival, as they swung open, without the need for anyone, within ear-shot, to hear their names being said. If one was curious they needed to merely turn their heads to see who else came to revel in their own self-importance. And so it was, that most of the guests who were occupying the main room turned their attention when a rather young pair came walking in, one of them being perhaps the second most known figure in their world-renowned family. All eyes were glued to her and the person with her, who squirmed under their scrutiny.

"Uh...Weiss...?" Ruby nervously started as she was holding her hand.

"I know." Weiss groaned.

"Everybody's looking at us." Ruby pointed out the blatantly obvious as they walked further inside the over-decorated building that had banners hanging from wall to wall and heavy chandeliers, with electric lightbulbs rather than candles, hung from the ceiling, all the way.

"I know." Weiss repeated, with more of a groan.

"Well...this was _your idea_." Ruby reminded her and Weiss sighed.

"I know!" she said, one more time. Nora and Ren entered, after them. Pretending to be an actual couple was much less of an issue for them, though they both kept shyly avoiding each other's gaze, with a smile, even as they held hands.

Ruby glanced around the main hall that was a museum in itself with a scaled down model of the city, its airships and military units, on a large table, flanked by an assortment of shields, weapons, coat of arms in display cases, with tablets describing the city's history and the tools it used to build the Kingdom.

"Wow..." Ruby whispered, relaxing some, as it caught her attention. Weiss could see Winter, off in a corner, observing them and she stopped to face Ruby.

"Why don't you go and look at the exhibit. I'll...talk to my sister." she suggested.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, still somewhat reluctant about parting from her in that crowd.

"You'll be fine." Weiss assured her, seeing her tension. "Just...don't drool on anything." she smilingly added and was glad to see it brightened Ruby up, making her lose more of her nervousness. Ruby giggled.

"Okay." Ruby told her and slowly let go of her hand. Weiss followed her with her gaze until she started looking at the displays. Weiss could see Winter was giving her a small smile the whole time she approached her.

"I was worried you wouldn't make it, when they said only pairs are allowed entry. But, I see you have..." Winter looked towards Ruby. _"Improvised."_ Her smile had not vanished and Weiss gave her a small glare.

"How did _you_ get in?" Weiss asked, somewhat miffed.

"Perks of having a high enough position in the military." Winter stated. "I _pulled rank_ , as they say. They did not argue." she added.

"Maybe I'm just not intimidating enough." Weiss thought out loud and it made Winter give her a small glare that briefly turned surprised when she saw a small smile that told her Weiss said it on purpose and she kept it up until Winter turned away to look at the partiers.

Nora immediately took Ren to a punch ball that he hoped was not spiked with any alcohol as Nora almost dunked her head in it, after which she dragged him to the dance floor, where they tried moving to the rhythm of quiet jazz-like music that was being played, by a live band, in the background. Prior to coming to the event, they agreed to keep an ear out for any suspicious banter they could overhear, finding and staying close to members of the Council, including Lionheart, who was already at the party. He was watching them from one of the upper floors.

"Hey." he heard a voice and nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand slapped down on his shoulder and he turned to see it was Qrow.

"Qrow!" Lionheart slapped his hand away. "I swear you're doing it on purpose!" he told him, accusingly.

"Retiremen' ain't far off, if you can make it." Qrow had no more reason to suspect Lionheart any more than the other members of the Council, so he was being himself.

"Oh, you're a crass clown." Lionheart said, with some dryness.

"I think the word you're lookin' for is _riot_." Qrow said, leaning on the railing and looking down at the people below with some disdain. "Could do with one. Half the city is out tonight." he said.

"And you are not even joking." Lionheart shook his head. He knew him, at least, that well.

….

Winter spotted one particular man, who was not, in fact, from the aristocracy, but who had similar tendencies, at least, in the way he drank. She scowled in annoyance when she saw him in Lionheart's company, wondering how he even managed to gain entry.

"I'm sorry, I...have no idea why they would remain out of contact for so long. It's troubling." Lionheart told Qrow.

"That's puttin' it lightly." Qrow said with his flask in hand and took a swig that nearly went down the wrong pipe, when he heard the familiar, irked voice of a woman from behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Winter walked up to them, her raised voice not even loud enough to rise above the indistinct chatter around them. "You're not supposed to be in here!" Winter told him.

"Miss Schnee! What...w-what a pleasant surprise to see you!" Lionheart greeted her, pretending he was unaware she was with Qrow and the rest.

"For you, maybe." Qrow mumbled, facing away from Winter.

"I thought James recalled all troops to Atlas, before closing the borders." Lionheart thought he would use the official narrative to make it seem like it was all he knew and Winter had her own act to keep up, as she could not let Lionheart or anyone else outside their group know she had privileged information that was beyond classified, even if Lionheart suspected that she had to know the truth.

"The withdrawal of our forces was...necessary. It is as much for the safety of Atlas as it is for the safety of the rest of Remnant. We cannot be allowed to spread our forces thin. The military is merely regrouping to redeploy more efficiently." Winter told him some truths that Lionheart would easily accept, but she also knew she did not answer his question for why she, herself, was there. "I...chose to stay, as my sister coincidentally decided to come after me. She was already in transit when they closed the borders. She couldn't turn back, so I decided we would remain until the next semester. It was an impromptu vacation, if you will. Something I've, admittedly, never done. But, considering my service record, the General was understanding, after I've immediately sent word of my stay." She fabricated an equally believable excuse for it and it also had some truth in it. She never took a day off. Never allowed herself a vacation. So, she thought her first instance of insubordination might as well coincide with some downtime, even if there was not much rest in it all, for her mind, at least.

"Perhaps _he_ could use a break, however unlikely _that_ is." Lionheart frowned. "His recent behavior is bordering on paranoia!" he exclaimed, letting out some frustration that coincidentally helped him to keep up appearances, forgetting Winter's loyalty, as the latter's face darkened some, even if she, now, came to know more about the truth and Ironwood's reasons. "With...all due respect, of course." Lionheart added, more calmly, not wanting to earn her ire.

"I'd say he was tryin' t' show off parts of 'imself he ain't got, anymore, but he already got _that_ handed t' 'im, long before Beacon." Qrow commented.

"Qrow!" Lionheart shook his head at his vulgarity. Winter balled a fist and gripped the handle of her falchion with the other, instantly on the verge of attacking Qrow, again. She reminded herself where they were and abruptly turned on her heels to walk away, instead of making a scene. "Must you always antagonize absolutely everyone from Atlas?" Lionheart asked, but the question might as well have been rhetorical. Qrow only shrugged with his flask in hand and a small smirk, clearly delighting in pushing Winter's buttons.

…

Winter pointed out key figures for Weiss, including members of the Council and moved closer to them. It did not take long for them to be noticed, but knowing, at least, the eldest Schnee's reputation and affiliation with the Atlas military, few actually dared to come close, let alone strike up a conversion, either with her or Weiss. Those who did chose their honeyed words carefully, even the Council members, as they were more used to dealing with Ironwood. Their exchange barely went beyond simple pleasantries, appraisal of their family and gloating about successful business deals with the Dust Company. No one dared to presume, at least, Winter's opinion of current events and of the situation in Atlas, let alone openly criticize the military, its chain of command and the decision that were made. Many were surprised that a specialist of the Atlas Military was still in the Kingdom, outright defying orders.

They let their guard down, somewhat, when any of them tried to talk to Weiss, who could not make them sweat soon-to-be-frozen bullets with just a glare as effectively as her sister. She only tried to feign interest in any of the attempted conversations when it was with someone they needed to observe more closely. With her eyes, she kept finding Ruby, from time to time, as the latter was looking around, trying not to stumble into slurring and spatially less aware guests. For an event attended by members of high society, the pace at which a group of people could descend into barely standing debauchery was only marginally slower than with people who did the same whilst living in mediocrity or poverty.

…

Out in the bistro, Yang was returning to their table with another round of non-alcoholic beverages and she stopped as she was about to pass Jaune in his seat, who was looking at his scroll. She saw he was intently gazing at an image of Pyrrha. Jaune felt someone standing beside him and looked up to see Yang had been silently standing there, looking at the same thing he was. He quickly put his scroll away as Yang placed the new bottles on the table, with a sorrowful expression and decided to sit down next to him. Jaune was not saying a word, as Yang turned to face him. She reach out and put her prosthetic hand around him, on his shoulder, then, to his surprise, pulled him close. His eyes were wide as his head was on her shoulder and she was slowly and comfortingly ruffling his hair and he kept blinking.

"She was really something else." Yang said and Jaune relaxed.

"Yeah." he quietly agreed.

"She was so humble and positive, all the time. Encouraging everyone. Kinda motherly or…you know…like a big sister. She could be so awkward, too. It was cute. And she was _tough_! She was a better fighter than all of us. I mean, they almost levelled the tower. She had to have put up a hell of a fight." Yang remembered her.

"I'm never gonna be as strong as her." Jaune said, as if he was resigned to it never happening.

"You already are." Yang told him.

"Tch. Come on…" Jaune did not want any pity and attempted to pull away, but Yang firmly kept him in place.

"Maybe _not in skill_." she said. "And maybe you'll never be." she frankly told him. "But, you're already strong…in the way she would want you to be." she added, patting his chest and let him go, after Jaune considered her words. He slowly looked at her and cracked a genuine smile.

"Thanks." he said.

"Anytime." Yang said, grabbed his bottle, flicked the cap off with her metal finger, did the same to her own and raised it. Jaune toasted her.

...

While Winter was doing her best not to mingle, Weiss went to find Ruby, having lost sight of her and searched two only slightly smaller, adjacent rooms, on either side of the main hall. She spotted her as she was standing with two women, who seemingly shared a taste in clothes, jewelry, make-up and hairdos, reminding Weiss of the obnoxious woman from the party, back in Atlas. As she got closer, she could hear their laughter and judging by Ruby's body-language they were not complimenting her.

"I wonder who could've possibly taken pity on a child and brought them in her." Weiss heard one of them say.

"You look like you ought to be tucked in and be read a bedtime story!" the other piled on. They bought looked up when they heard Weiss clear her throat as she stopped in front of them, eyes narrowed at them. "Well, if it isn't the little Dust Princess!" the same woman exclaimed.

"Aren't you just a tad far from daddy's feet? Or did he actually kick you out on the street, now that you're no longer the heir to the Company, hmm?" the other mocked, as the news still managed to reach the Kingdom, despite world communications having been brought to a crawl by the fall of the CCT tower at Beacon.

"I don't need my father's money. And I left on my own, thank you." Weiss replied, taking their mockery.

"And now you're free to try and fail to make it in the real world. Your name isn't going to pull you from the gutter when you finally fall in it." one of them said.

"I guess you've already been there." said the other. "Where else would you have picked such an ugly outfit, never mind your little attaché, here. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!"

"Hey! Stop being so mean!" Ruby tried to stand her ground, as she heard them belittle both of them enough. "You don't even know us!"

"Oh, dear, that's the point! If you _were_ someone, we'd know you." The same one replied.

"Well, at least I'm not a jerk!" Ruby retorted and the two women burst out laughing.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! My, such _strong_ language!" one of them sarcastically commented. "You probably _do_ kiss your mother with that mouth." Ruby's eyes widened and she immediately started to tear up. Weiss could see her soul was pierced by their words. They were unaware just how low a blow it was to her and Weiss was glaring daggers into them, coming dangerously close to turning them both into ice-sculptures. Her expression briefly softened as she grabbed Ruby by the hand to take her away.

"Come on, Ruby." she softly told her and started leaving as the two women laughed even louder. They failed to notice when Weiss glanced back and small, black, spinning glyphs appeared around each of the champagne glasses they were holding. They shattered, spilling their contents all over them, amidst their screams. Weiss turned back to Ruby as they went to a quieter corner, away from them and from the crowd.

"They had no right to say that." Weiss was quietly boiling.

"I...I-I mean, they didn't know..." Ruby tried shrugging it off, reasoning they did not know her past.

"No! That's not an excuse! You were right. They don't know either of us. They don't know _you_. What you've been through. All they see is a small, helpless child. But, as soon as the Grimm or the White Fang would attack, they'd be _begging_ you to protect them. And they wouldn't even have to, because you'd stand between them to help, even after what they said." She placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. " _That's_ who you are. But, they'll probably never see that." Ruby tucked a strand of her behind her ear, unable to say anything and placed a hand on Weiss' that was still on her shoulder. She could manage a small smile and it was enough for Weiss. "Come on. Let's get back to the others." she told Ruby and within a few minutes they managed to regroup with Winter, Ren and Nora on the first the floor, where they were joined by Qrow, who slipped away from Lionheart, so he would not hear them.

"Well, this was a bust." he muttered, walking up to them. "I got nothin' from Leo and he didn't get anythin' from the Council. Anyone actually got somethin'?" he asked, with some frustration. Weiss exchanged a glance with Ruby and they shook their heads.

"Oh yeeeah. Heh-heh." Nora giggle. "Half the people, here, got some seeerious _relationship_ problems." She spoke with a slight slur and they gave her a strange look.

"I did overhear more talk about marriage counseling and divorce settlements than about business or anything else." Winter noted in a clearly bored tone, but in agreement.

"Heheh..." Nora giggled with a small hiccup and she had a slight wobble as she leaned closer to Winter, while holding onto Ren. " _Who_ would try da leave _you_? You'd just freeze their butts t'da the floor!" she hiccupped, again. "An' their _parts_ off." she added, with a slow wink, letting out another laugh.

"I believe we had enough for the evening." Winter stated, noting her tipsiness.

"Damn..." Qrow quietly cursed, looking at his feet. "I really thought we'd get somethin' t' follow. Some _one_. But, we got nothin'." he said, sounding fed-up.

"Staying here longer probably won't make a difference." Weiss said, glancing at Ruby, again, as both of them had enough of the place. Qrow looked at her and silently agreed, as he went towards the balcony and would have likely kicked its doors open if they were not already that way.

"Well, we had fun, didn't we!" Nora held onto Ren, probably both from affection and for support. He nodded in agreement.

"At least, some of us did." Weiss said.

"Should we leave, then?" Winter asked and Weiss nodded, then looked at Ruby, who did the same. Lionheart watched their exchange from above, but could not hear them. He could only guess that Qrow was disappointed, likely by the lack of information they could acquire throughout the evening.

"There was really nothing that could help us?" Weiss asked Winter.

"If any of the Council members _are_ conspiring with the enemy, they're certainly hiding it well. I've seen no one suspicious among them or anyone who was with them. Lionheart didn't seem particularly thrilled to be here, but I suppose he's not too fond of the rest of them, either. He probably has to put up with them, in order to run the academy without too much of their interference." Winter noted.

"Wait..." Weiss started. "So, does the council in every kingdom know about the relics? I mean, it's what Salem is really after, isn't it? Do they know about them?" She and Winter both looked expectantly at Ruby.

"Well...the Professor never said." Ruby replied, with a shrug.

...

"Look, there they are!" Oscar exclaimed, as he spotted the others leaving City Hall, getting Yang and Jaune's attention, who were sitting at the table.

"Finally." Yang sighed, sliding out of her seat. They could not decide whether Nora was trying to yank Ren in all directions or if the latter was actually trying to help her walk more steadily. Either of which was made considerably more difficult given her raw strength. Hearing the flapping of wings and a caw made them look to the side and Qrow walked out of a dark corner of the balcony they were on, looking unhappy.

"How was the party?" Yang folded her arms. Qrow's response was to stop and take a swig from his flask, without saying anything, before or after. "Well, that didn't sound promising." Yang commented, dryly. Oscar's eyes flashed.

"I take it you didn't have any luck." Ozpin said and Qrow gave him a small glare. "Sorry." Ozpin said with the hint of smile on Oscar's face. "Were you not able to obtain any information that may aid us, then?

"We got nothin'. Unless you wanna hear about scandals and less than clean business deals." Qrow said.

"What about Leo and the Council?" Ozpin asked and Qrow shook his head with a deep sigh, glaring at his own feet as he hung his head. "I see." Ozpin noted and saw the others were getting close.

...

They met them in a dimly lit alley that was somewhat quieter than the bustling square.

"Do not be distraught." Ozpin was telling Ruby and the rest, who looked glum, with the exception of Nora. "We were expecting to find a connection between the Council and Salem's forces. Our lack of success may not be the failure we believe it to be. Perhaps there was nothing to find. Though, I would hesitate to say whether that is _more_ comforting or _less_." he admitted.

"Professor..." Weiss started. "I want to ask, do the Councils know about the relics?"

"No. They do not." Ozpin replied. "The number of people I entrusted with their knowledge, in every life, was always few. As you know, the leaders of the academies are also members of the council, in every kingdom. But, apart from them, the other council members never knew of the relics. Perhaps it was cynical of me to not place the same level of trust in them, however...it is also not difficult to imagine what would happen if they and the rest of the world ever became aware of their existence." he said. Ruby, Jaune and Ren all looked at Qrow, who already answered that question for them.

"There would be war." Winter stated and Ozpin nodded.

"Would make yer job more interestin', huh?" Qrow was not in a foul enough mood not to take shots at her and Winter glared. "Makes you wonder, too." Qrow added and Winter slightly raised a brow, eyes still narrowed. "If there was another war, Atlas and Mistral wouldn't be buddies, again, if both knew about the other's relic. It'd be all four kingdoms, on their own." He turned to Ozpin. "None of 'em would ally with another. Not with those kind of stakes." he added.

"Surely, James would convince the Atlas council that a war would only serve the cause of our enemy." Ozpin said.

"Yer sure 'bout that? What if he'd start thinkin' the only way t' fight Salem would be t' have all of the relics? Barrin' findin' the other two maidens, he can easily send his troops back t' Beacon. And Atlas wouldn't be goin' t' 'Vacuo' t' 'ask' for help. But, I guess, Mistral could swing both ways, heh-heh, pun intended." He had to laugh at his own words, unintentionally also referring to the Kingdom's more open-minded culture. "Except, Ironwood's not thinkin' straight. He still thinks his military'll be enough t' defend 'emselves. He's bein' an idiot!"

"How dare you!?" Winter growled. "He's doing everything he can to keep out any threat."

"Well, it ain't just the threat he's keepin' out." Qrow argued. "No help can get in or out, either. As fer the fine folk, in there, I'd say he's doing the same t' 'em your dear dad tried t' do with your little sister. Of course, they don't feel like they're in a big marble prison. They don't want to leave, in the first place. And if James won't listen t' reason, it'll be their grave."

"As if _you_ would know anything about _reason_! You barely have a sober minute in a day!" Winter stepped closer.

"You can bark, like a loyal dog, all you want. It's not gonna change facts!" Qrow did not budge.

"Call me that, again and I'll-..." Winter took a step, hands on the handle of her sword, but they heard a snapping sound and she followed the direction it came from, barely in time to lean away from a loose cable that swung from a lamp post. It hit her across the face. "Agh!" she yelled and touched the spot that had a rivulet of blood running down from a deep gash. Her gloved hand was shaking even more from anger, as well as from the sudden pain. Everyone looked between her, Qrow, the cable and elsewhere, if it was sabotage or an accident, but Qrow knew otherwise. For the first time, he had a look of guilt and as Winter activated her aura to heal herself, glaring at him, he backed out and turned to leave.

"Hey, where-...?" Yang tried to keep him from just walking off.

"Stay away from me!" Qrow yelled at her, surprising both Yang and Ruby with his tone, as he kept his distance, walking around them and everyone else.

"What's his _deal_?" Yang raised her hands.

"I-It wasn't his fault." Ruby apologetically told Winter.

"Nobody _said_ it was his fault!" Yang pointed out. Ozpin sighed, drawing their attention.

"There is...something that a few of you already know. And...some of you still _need_ to know." He looked at Winter, in particular. "Hopefully...it will help you understand certain...events. And the person they revolved around." he said, glancing after Qrow and Winter, Weiss and Yang wondered what it had to do with him.

...

"So all of those things didn't happen by accident?" Yang was asking, astounded, as they were on their way back and Winter was giving Ozpin a demanding look.

"Not quite." Ozpin corrected her. "The probability of them happening was simply multiplied. They would've happened, eventually, regardless of Qrow's semblance acting upon them. I realize, given the timing of the incidents and how often they occurred, that it doesn't seem like there is a difference. But, you must understand, he has no control over any of it." he explained.

"He told us how he can't be around people very much, because of it." Ruby said, sad for her Uncle.

"Indeed. His semblance profoundly complicates many aspects of his life. None more so than how he is able to relate to others and form whatever ties he can or...cares to have. It was...a side of him I could relate to, actually." Ozpin noted and got a few raised brows. "Although I was never forced to keep people at a distance, I still chose to forego having any meaningful bonds, for quite a long time. Of course, by the time I met Qrow, I already had several lifetimes worth of friends behind me. And yet, his... _predicament_ intrigued me." He suddenly had a look of guilt. "I...thought I was exploiting his solitary nature by sending him out to be my eyes all over Remnant, knowing he would constantly need to be on the road, without settling down for longer periods of time and that because of his semblance he would prefer to operate in such a way. It wasn't difficult to realize, that what he preferred was not necessarily what he wished his life could be. He could do nothing to rid himself of the burden fate placed on him, the same way I had no choice but to bear my curse from the Gods." he drew the comparison, then let out a sardonic laugh. "We would often...debate...which one of us is more _cursed_. I know I would rather have the freedom to seek companionship, to which he'd say he would rather live a long life with a few angry friends than live forever." He smiled at that.

"I didn't know you two were so... _close_. Uh..." Yang realized how it sounded.

"He is...a kindred spirit, if I ever met one." Ozpin replied.

"Oh." Yang relaxed, having almost misinterpreted him.

"I realize it is no consolation, nor is it an excuse for his behavior, Miz Schnee." Ozpin looked at Winter. "But, he most certainly did not mean to harm you. If that had been his intention, I suspect it would've taken considerably more effort." Winter seemed to accept his explanation, apology and complement.

"That was a cool fight!" Ruby exclaimed suddenly more cheery and both Winter's and Ozpin's eyes widened. The latter kept smiling, while Winter gave her a weary look.

"Of course, _you_ would say that." Weiss told her, but she could see Ruby was genuinely feeling better.

"Hey, maybe your sister wants a rematch!" Ruby hopped around with her fists raised as if she was ready for a fight herself and Weiss briefly stopped as she looked at her with a strange face, at how fast her mood improved, but was glad for it.

"Why would I even want a _rematch_ , when clearly **I** was the victor?" Winter asked and Ruby gave her a smirk that said she thought otherwise. Winter gave her a small glare, but it did not faze Ruby.

"So, you think you're tough, huh, sis?" Yang went and put Ruby in a headlock, giving her a noggie, while she tried to fight it.

"G'uhhh!" Ruby struggled in her hold. The streets echoed from her desperate attempts and Yang's laughter.

...

Their last remaining week, before the impending storm, would pass in normalcy, except for Qrow's almost constant absence, who continued his search, leaving in the morning and returning well past nightfall, in a worse mood, with every unsuccessful day. No one could even talk to him and he certainly did not feel like talking to anyone, as he would miss breakfast, as well as dinner. On the final day, Ozpin would tell him to stop, saying there was nothing more he could do. He remained optimistic about their odds, despite their failure to find aid, citing humanity's resilience, while agreeing with Qrow that there are those misguided few who succumb to the forces of darkness, from their own fear or malice.

Then Ruby came over to ask about the relic at Beacon and how they worried it could be already in Salem's possession. Ozpin assured her he made that particular relic more challenging to find than the others and that their main concern should remain the Relic of Knowledge, at Haven. He also had to assure her that despite their speculations his cane was not a relic. As Ruby left, Qrow received a call from Lionheart, who said he finally made progress with the Council in enlisting aid for them to find and bring back the Spring Maiden. He wanted them to meet at Haven Academy that night.

"That sounds drastically different from your conversation, both at the academy and at the gala, does it not?" Ozpin asked Qrow, in suspicion. Who agreed.

"Things aren't looking good, Oz." Qrow repeated.

"I know." Ozpin admitted.

...

Before they left for the meeting, they agreed that Winter would use her authority to bring reinforcements from the Mistral Police Force, if necessary. Jaune called Neptune as they neared the academy, to have him meet them with Sage, Scarlet and team ABRN. They agreed the students from Haven would stay outside and guard the academy grounds, while they met with Lionheart. Ozpin told Qrow he would prefer to stay back and observe the meeting, covertly, not wanting to reveal himself, in case any of their adversaries would also show themselves. Nothing seemed out of place as they walked through the courtyard. Qrow watched as Oscar slipped away from them to sneak inside, elsewhere, to then make his way to the upper floors, from where he could watch them. They entered the large doors and saw Lionheart was standing on the balcony, overlooking the main hall, on top of the stairs.

"Welcome, my friends!" he greeted them. "There...seems to be even more of you." he noted Yang and Weiss' presence, with some nervousness

"Eh, you know what they say..." Qrow replied. "The more the merrier."

"Why…did you bring your weapons?" Lionheart asked, even more nervously.

"What?" Qrow found his question strange. "Leo, we're _huntsmen_." he reminded him, as Oscar moved behind a column on the floor above. He immediately spotted a raven perched on the railing, to the side, at the same time Yang did. The latter instantly knew it was no ordinary raven, either.

"Mom!?" she exclaimed and barely a second after, the bird flew from its spot, avoiding a shotgun blast from Qrow, who wordlessly drew Harbinger and transformed it to use its gun-mode. It retracted and he held his sword in a reverse grip, battle ready, as the raven flew behind Lionheart and on his other side out came his sister.

"If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me. _That_ was insulting." Raven told Qrow, disappointedly.

"Raven." Ruby noted her presence, with some disdain.

"They...really are _magic_." Nora tried to come to grips with it.

"What're you doin' here!?" Qrow demanded to know. Raven accused him of scheming against her and went on to explain why Lionheart made the right decision by allying himself with her, claiming Salem cannot be beaten and the best thing anyone could hope to do is to survive and she would do so by holding onto the Spring Maiden. Ruby stepped up, telling her she was wrong. That in just the past few months they did things most people would consider impossible. And that they could defeat any threat, but only if they worked together. Her plea reminded Raven of her former teammate and she felt nauseated just from listening to her. She told Ruby she sounded just like her mother, then opened a portal, letting a fireball shoot through and hit Ruby. Cinder walked through the portal, followed by Emerald, Mercury and Vernal.

"Ruby!" Weiss and Yang rushed to her side and helped her up. The doors opened and Hazel walked through. He closed them, behind him, telling them the White Fang was preparing demolition charges to bring down the CCT tower and the school. He told everyone that no one was getting in and no one was getting out. Qrow asked Raven how long she had been working for Salem and Cinder explained that Raven was only a recent addition. Lionheart, on the other hand, had been doing her bidding for far longer. Providing them fake identities, to pass them off as students from Haven and gaining entry to the Vytal Festival was also his doing.

"It _was_ you." Qrow said to Lionheart, seething. "We all wanted t' think it was someone else. From the Council. From _anywhere_! But, it was _you_. You had information on every huntsmen in the Kingdom. And you gave it all t' Salem. I couldn't find any of them. Because _you_ let her kill them!" Qrow threw his crime in Lionheart's face, who was clearly conflicted about all he had done to selfishly ensure his own survival.

"Aww, don't beat yourself up about it, Lionheart." Cinder said. "I'm sure Tyrian and Hazel would've found them all, on their own, eventually."

"How can you be so broken inside?" Jaune asked, with his head hung and they could tell he was about to go off. "To take so many lives. And then rub it in our face, like it's something to be proud of? All with that damn smile on your face!" He raised his head and tears were rolling from his eyes.

"Jaune..." Nora worriedly started. Qrow would have told them all to stay calm, though, he knew had no right to tell any of the children, as he, himself, was about ready to launch himself at their enemy, particularly his sister and Lionheart.

"I'll make you pay for what you did!" Jaune continued to an unresponsive Cinder. "You hear me!? Well!? Say something!" She looked at him as if she did not even remember him.

"Who are you, again?" she asked and it sent Jaune over the edge. He charged at Cinder who effortlessly blocked his lunging attack, holding her own blade with one hand. Ruby tried to leap to his aid, only to be dragged down from the air by Emerald's chains, who would not let her near Cinder. Mercury went to face Yang, while Weiss found herself up against Vernal. Qrow locked swords with his sister, telling her they were no longer family. Nora and Ren gave Hazel no choice but to fight them.

...

The fight started in earnest and Oscar watched as Lionheart attempted to retreat, back to his study, where he followed him. Lionheart nearly reached his door when he heard someone behind him and he turned to see Oscar. He briefly froze, but still tried to keep up his act.

"Y-young man, I don't know how you got in here or why, but I suggest you leave. T-this place...has become a battleground. It is _no_ place for you!" he told him, trying to be firm, then watched as he slowly drew and an extended a familiar cane.

"You can stop pretending." Oscar spoke, gripping the cane. "He knows. We all know. You betrayed them. Everyone." he whispered, barely wanting to believe what Lionheart did. Perhaps they were Ozpin's emotions showing through. "How could you do that? You're a headmaster. They were your colleagues. Your _friends_!" That was more Oscar's disappointment in the man as the head of an institution meant to train protectors of men. Lionheart's demeanor changed as he ended his charade.

"Don't lecture _me_ , boy! You don't understand! You can't _possibly_ understand what she is! Why I had no choice. But...heh-who am I talking to?" Lionheart asked with a light laugh. "You...you're not really Ozpin, right now." He pointed at him and flippantly shook his head, immediately underestimating him. "Just a boy. A _child_. If I get rid of you, she'll _have to_ reward me. And I can finally be free!" he exclaimed and readied his intricate, wrist-mounted weapon.

"What do I do?" Oscar asked, in a whisper.

 _"Fight."_ Ozpin simply stated.

...

The fight was not going well for any of them, not inside or outside. Neptune and the others were trying to devise a plan to quietly take down members of the White Fang, without alerting all of them, especially their leader, Adam Taurus. Neptune saw something move from behind a pair of guards, as if the shadows themselves had taken on a slender human form. It grabbed both of them and silently yanked them down, knocking both out cold, before the figure seemingly melded back into the dark.

Inside, Ruby could not get through Emerald to help Jaune, who was struggling. Unlike in their match at the Vytal Festival Tournament, Mercury was taking things more seriously and Yang was being kicked around, almost into a daze, unable to effectively retaliate. Nora and Ren were being thrown around by Hazel, whose brute strength neither of them could overcome. Qrow was chasing Raven around, while the latter's second-in-command was quickly proving herself to be an exceptionally gifted fighter, also, as Weiss had no time to rest between Vernal's attack. Whatever break she could find she kept using to try and summon her Arma Gigas, which, in retrospect was not only a mistake, but became her undoing. She left herself wide open and Vernal electrocuted her, disabling her. Jaune was distracted by Weiss' cry of pain, as was, Ruby and Yang. All three of them were off-guard and it only needed to last for a second, for all of them to take a few more hits they could have done without.

"I'm starting remember you." Cinder told Jaune, with a light laugh, as he was getting back up from a knee. "You're the _dense_ one, who can't tell when _he's out of his league_."

"Stop toying with me!" Jaune yelled at her.

"If that's what you want." Cinder replied and her blade shattered, as if breaking from its chrysalis, to reveal a weapon made of pure fire, in the shape of a curved sword. They charged at each other. Ruby turned from her fight to see Jaune running at her and the memory of Pyrrha's final moments, kneeling defeated in front of Cinder, flashed before her. She panicked, fearing she would lose another friend and she desperately wanted to stop it.

"Nooo!" she cried and a blinding light shined from her silver eyes, engulfing them. It only lasted for a brief moment, before Ruby was rendered unconscious from a hit to the back of the head by Emerald. It was still enough to halt Cinder and bring her to her knees. She was panting from the pain as she was holding her covered arm. Her breath was caught in her throat, as she narrowly avoided Jaune's blade. It would have mercilessly stabbed her straight through her masked eye, but it only ended up scraping a small piece of the mask off and Jaune overshot her, losing his balance. He rolled on his back to get up, but Cinder's foot was already firmly on his chest, pressing down on him.

"You actually thought you had a chance against _me_? **You!?** " Cinder angrily asked him. "You're nothing but a failure with a death-wish." Jaune told her it did not matter to him if he died, if it meant helping his friends.

"They're the ones that matter." Jaune said, clutching her foot, struggling to push it off of him.

"You think so?" Cinder ominously asked and noticed Weiss was picking herself up from the ground, moving to reach for her weapon. Cinder had a sadistic smirk and summoned a javelin in her hand. She threw it, impaling Weiss from behind as it ran her through her lower-right torso, before it evaporated. Though the injury itself did not appear to be instantly fatal, Weiss lost consciousness from the pain and shock, falling forward and passing out on the ground.

At that moment, the door leading to Lionheart's study burst open and he himself came tumbling through it. He held onto the railing for support to pick himself up, as Oscar walked out. Both of them took a second to assess the situation downstairs. Oscar saw Ruby lying on the floor, as well as the state Weiss was in.

"No..." he whispered, in fear for their life, at the same time Ozpin did.

"Ozpin!" he heard a gruff, anger-filled voice.

 _"Oh, no."_ Ozpin exclaimed, filled with dread, as Hazel spotted them. He threw Nora and Ren to the side, as they attacked him. The usually calm and collected, seemingly pacifistic man was suddenly in rage.

"You _thought_ you could _hide_ from _me_!" He tore off his shirt, as if he was a feral beast unaccustomed to wearing any fabric and Qrow gave him a weird stare. "For two months, I let you live, because _she_ told me! But, now..." Hazel took crystals of lightning dust out of his satchel. "Now, you'll pay for what you did!" He raised them. "You'll die, over and over, again!" He stabbed the dust crystals into his arms, directly infusing their raw power with himself and let out a roar, as if he had been reduced to a mindless brute. With a single jump, he was between Oscar and Lionheart, on the upper floor.

"Do we fight?" Oscar quickly asked, as it was not only the ground that trembled from Hazel's movements.

 _"No! Run!"_ Ozpin told him, in alarm.

Jaune hurried to Weiss' side, as Cinder and Vernal did not even bother to continue the fight. As far as they were concerned, three of them were already out of commission, with Qrow being the forth, who quickly went to help Oscar from being crushed and Raven returned to Cinder and Vernal.

"Ozpin's _here_!?" Cinder asked, unable to fathom how that was even possible and what it meant for her. But, she understood it was what Salem wanted her to discover on her own.

"Is that a problem?" Raven asked and Cinder was not sure what the consequences were for her, as she apparently failed to eliminate him. Salem could have punished her for it, but she did not. Yet.

"I'm not sure." Cinder replied and called for Lionheart to open the elevator to the Vault, as their opposition was in disarray. Yang wanted to get to both Weiss and Ruby. And go after her mother. But, Mercury and Emerald ganged upon her. The latter used her illusions to make the fight even harder for her and they enjoyed toying with her. Ren and Jaune were checking on Weiss as Nora went to shake Ruby awake. Jaune had no idea what to do. He was falling into despair, as he was about to lose another person he cared for. It was in that moment of desperation, from the need to be strong and to help, that something awakened in him. As he held his hands over Weiss' wounds, a brilliant glow emanated from him and his aura seemingly enveloped Weiss, slowly beginning to heal her. Nora was able to wake Ruby up, who sprang to her feet when she saw Weiss with Jaune over her. She rushed over, with tear-filled eyes, asking what happened and what _was_ happening as she looked at all the blood.

"Weiss..." she cried, shedding tears on her. She placed her hand over Jaune's and Weiss began to stir.

As occupied as Yang was, being kicked from one side to the other, she was aware her friends needed every second to recover, so she endured the thrashing she was being given, knowing it, at least, kept Mercury and Emerald busy.

"Whatever you're doing, don't stop!" Ruby told Jaune, who nodded as Ruby went to help her sister.

"What _are_ you doing?" Nora asked as she knelt to inspect Weiss.

"I...I'm not...I think I'm giving her my aura." Jaune was trying to make sense of what was happening.

"You mean, you're healing her?" Ren supposed.

"N-no. Our aura heals us. Hers was already low, but...this is still hers. It's...it's not mine. I don't think I'm giving her mine. I...I think I'm using my aura to make _her_ aura stronger." he described what he was feeling. "But...I'm going to need more time."

"What if you run out of _yours_?" Nora asked, referring to his aura.

"Don't worry. Pyrrha once told me I got a lot of it. Maybe this is why. And I believe her." Jaune said. "I'll just need more time." he repeated. Ren and Nora stood and took a defensive stance, in front of them.

"You got it!" Nora exclaimed, ready to hammer down on anyone.

Meanwhile, it was not Oscar who was fighting Hazel, anymore. Ozpin took over, when Oscar valiantly tried to not back down from the fight, but Ozpin knew he was not ready to face an opponent like Hazel. He leapt around, running up and pushing off of walls and corners to get around him and attack from a different angle, while Qrow kept blocking Lionheart's fiery orbs that he hurled at him from his disk. Emerald went in for an attack on Yang, who was down. She was forced to back off as Ruby jumped in front of her with a swipe, pulling her scythe behind her back and striking her signature pose.

"Thanks, sis." Yang said as she got to her feet. "You okay?"

"No." Ruby narrowed her eyes, staring at their enemy. "I'm angry." she stated and the two took on Emerald and Mercury together, evening the fight.

"Hah. You really think you can beat us, runt?" Mercury asked, obnoxiously overconfident.

"Even if you did, Cinder can't be stopped, now." Emerald said.

"Oh, yeah? I wouldn't bet on that." Yang said. Mercury and Emerald exchanged a quick look, raising their brows at her sudden confidence. "I'd be worried about my _boss_ , if I were you." Yang decided if their enemy was so fond of playing head-games, then she would use it against them. "I mean, what'll you two do if she bites the dust, huh? You'll be out of your jobs and be back to whatever gutter she found you in." Yang did not actually know about either of their pasts, but she instantly knew the last part accidentally hit home, when Emerald's face contorted into a vicious snarl and she lunged at her. As Yang bobbed and weaved away from her swipes, Mercury came in to try and kick her away, but Ruby tripped both of them up, with her speed and scythe-swipe, long enough for Yang to fire a blast into the ground, below them, that launched them into the air, as if they had stepped on a landmine. They leapt back as Mercury and Emerald were thrown to the ground and the two wobbled as they stood, having instantly taken quite some damage. They both growled in annoyance.

Weiss recovered enough to move and told Jaune to keep up whatever he was doing, as she felt her strength returning.

When Qrow and Ozpin started faltering both in their attacks and their defense against Hazel, Ren Nora had to step in to draw his attention. They only succeeded in occupying him for the time it took Hazel to grab both of them, toss Ren aside and hold Nora to the ground, face-first. He started electrocuting her with the lightning he generated from the crystals in his body, as his rage made him more merciless. He did not even wish to fight either of them, at first, but as the dust in him fueled him, it seemed to also erode his principles and discipline. He was mouthing off his intention of making them all casualties Ozpin could hold himself responsible for, not noticing that he was actually giving Nora strength. He was surprised when she started to stand, grabbed his forearm and threw him over her shoulder.

Ozpin told her Hazel's semblance allowed him to block out pain, which made it possible for him to inject raw dust into his body more easily. Nora did not care if he could hurt or not and as Hazel charged her, she prepared for a swing and batted him away. He crashed through the large doors, landing outside, on the courtyard, where Adam Taurus turned from ordering his men to look at what happened, wondering who could have sent a man like Hazel flying.

All around the academy, Neptune and the others were snatching up White Fang members, one by one, slowly working their way towards the courtyard. As they laid their latest mark to the ground, they heard rustling from the dark forest behind them. They readied their weapons to quickly dispatch any White Fang they expected to come out from the woods, but were shocked when a different White Fang emerged, Faunus bearing the organization's old symbol, led by a large, bearded man in a purple coat.

"Hazel, what's going on in there?" Adam asked as Hazel was picking himself up.

"None of your concern." Hazel dusted himself off and pulled fire-dust out, which he injected in himself.

"Adam!" A familiar voice called his name and Adam turned to see Blake standing on top of the tower. Soon after, the new White Fang showed itself, in full force, led by Ghira and joined by ABRN and the reunited team SSSN, as Sun and Neptune chest-bumped each other. With the success of his mission at stake, Adam began to quickly unravel and held up a detonator, threatening to set off the explosives, even if he himself and his men were in the middle of it all. His men did not share his zealotry, however and could see he was losing his grip on the situation. Fortunately his last ditch effort would not work as all of the bombs were diffused and Ilia stepped out of the shadows she was blending into with the last of the wires cut.

"Woah! A chameleon girl!" Neptune exclaimed. " _That's_ who I saw!" he noted, remembering the shadowy figure who was also taking down the extremists of the White Fang.

Adam asked Hazel for help, but was told that the situation was his mess to fix. Blake and his father implored the remaining fanatical members to stand down and resolve the situation peacefully, but the few men that remained stood with Adam. A spotlight was suddenly aimed at them from an airship and a female voice announced, through a speaker, the presence of the Mistral Police Force. Winter stood on the ship, along with Kali Belladonna. The authorities have surrounded the academy grounds and most of the hostile forces were already incapacitated. Adam lost his nerves and attacked Blake as his men spread out to fend off Sun and Ilia. When his subordinates quickly began to fall, Adam changed targets and as Ilia was busy holding a struggling militant down, he got behind her and held his sword to her throat.

"Enough!" he shouted. "I will not be _humiliated_ like this!"

"Adam, don't!" Blake pleaded with him as Adam started backing out, looking around so no one would make a move. "Let her go, Adam!"

"I told you I will take everyone from you, Blake. It doesn't matter how fast. One by one, _piece_ by piece..." He pressed the blade to Ilia's throat drawing blood. "I _will_ make you suffer. You will _wish_ I'd started with you!" he kept threatening as he went to the edge of the courtyard with Ilia.

"Dude! You're sick!" Sun commented.

"The only sickness in this world is _humans_!" Adam retorted.

"Ah, yeah! 'Cause a human is holding a blade to a Faunus right now!" Sun said, moving closer with Blake. "Hypocrite." he added.

"I'm doing this _for the Faunus_!" Adam tried to rationalize his madness. Blake moved. "Not one more step!" Adam told her in a low voice, dangerously close to following through with his threat. Everyone was still and on the airship, Winter started reaching for her weapon, when she suddenly spotted movement behind Adam, as a swift shadow got behind him from the foliage.

"Arrrgh!" Adam was suddenly stabbed through his right side, from behind, precisely at an angle so it would not accidentally injure Ilia. She took the opportunity to break free of his grip and pushed herself away, as the blade was drawn back. Adam staggered away, turning around with a vicious snarl, to see his assailant. Ghira was staring in shock, along with all the Faunus. Neptune and the boys were all gawking at the woman who stood behind Adam, his blood dripping from the dagger in her hand. Her tattooed stripes on her toned body were partially hidden by a form-fitting, black dress that left most of her back bare. The dress had two long splits on the side, which revealed a pair of black shorts, black stockings in conjunction with green sandals that had red laces which were tied to her calfs, as well as a black elbow length fingerless glove on her right hand. Over them she wore a back revealing red cape with gold accents, as well as a green waist cincher with red rims that had a black belt over it. Adam thought he was seeing a ghost.

"Sienna!? But you-...you're..." Adam paused before giving himself away.

"Go ahead! Finish what you were going to say, Adam!" Sienna told him, assuming a more relaxed stance. "Or have you truly become such a coward you won't even face up to what you did! Or tried to do, anyway." she mocked him and Adam growled at her. "Foolish boy. Did you really think I'd be the leader of our people if I was so easy to kill."

"Y-you...you'll pay for this." Adam hissed, holding his wound that he had trouble healing with his aura.

"Look at what you've become!" Sienna yelled at him. "You're a bigger threat to the Faunus than humans ever were!"

"Hrrgraaah!" Adam lurched forward, already losing the fight before it even began. Sienna flipped to the side, to avoid his sluggish sword-slash and kicked him in the same side she stabbed him, then back-flipped behind him as he double over in pain. Adam was running on his anger alone, it was the only thing willing his body to move as he spun around to try and cut Sienna, who bent back from the knees, as if she was playing limbo, her flexibility giving her both agility and grace. From that position, she stood on one leg and with a spinning scissor-kick, hit Adam square in the jaw, flipping back to stand facing him. He was bleeding and nearly frothing from the mouth, a rabid, wounded animal, both in body and in pride.

Ghira could hardly believe how reserved Sienna was acting. The woman he knew would have taken the life of the person who attempted to take hers, in an instant. And here she was lecturing him, instead. But, he quickly realized that was more of a punishment for Adam than simply dying at her hands. Adam glanced around in panic, like a cornered animal. And like one, he had no choice but to flee, as he was certainly in no condition to fight. He bolted towards the forest cutting a path with his sword as he ran.

"Shouldn't we go after him?" Sun asked.

"No." Blake stated. "He lost and he knows it." She turned to Sienna and nodded to her in gratitude, before heading towards the building.

Ilia and many of the men and women of the new White Fang, were all in awe of the woman, regardless of her violent history as the High Leader. Then she suddenly placed a hand on her abdomen and knelt, grunting in pain.

"Sienna!" Ghira came over, but stopped when she held up a hand, signaling him she did not need help. The wound Adam gave her had not completely healed, under the two months. She practically came back from death.

"I'm fine." she muttered. "Hmph. Worried about me?" she coyly asked him and Ghira frowned at her flirting.

"My mistake." he replied with a hint of a smile and Sienna stood. She looked to the side to see Ilia was still staring at her almost starry-eyed, as if she was some celebrity-crush. Sienna raised a brow at the star-struck girl.

...

Seeing Adam had lost, with his mistakes coming back to haunt him in droves, Hazel decided to leave him to his own devices and he would turn his attention back to his own fight, when he suddenly saw something pierce him and looked down in shock to see a stinger protruding from his chest. He was yanked back into the building and pulled along the ground. He slowly stood and turned to see a white, almost ethereal Queen Lancer hovering above a completely recovered Weiss. She looked up and her eyes widened. Ruby and Yang turned from their fight with Emerald and Mercury to follow her gaze and saw Blake standing in the ruined doorway, equally as surprised to see them. But, a proper reunion had to wait.

"Yang!" Ruby told Yang to make a move, while she had an opening and Yang made a dash for the elevator-shaft. Mercury ran to grab her prosthetic arm and Emerald threw one of the bladed chains of her pair of weapons around her leg. Yang had to make a quick decision to fight or to go after her mother and Cinder and stop them from obtaining the relic. She already knew what was more important and turning away, she used the built-in gun of her prosthetic arm to shoot the chain, severing it and freeing her leg. Then she detached the arm, leaving it in a dumbfounded Mercury's hand as she ran and jumped down the shaft.

"No!" Emerald exclaimed, but before she and Mercury could even try to chase after her, a wall of ice formed, blocking the way to the elevator. Weiss stood between them with the Queen Lancer, joined by Ruby and Blake. Hazel roared in rage, his battle cry making even Mercury and Emerald nervous, as he did not appear to be in possession of all of his mental faculties. With the Mistral Police and reformed White Fang both out in full force, supporting the students and professional huntsmen, such as Qrow and Winter Schnee, Lionheart saw that their defeat was inevitable and fled to his study, to prepare himself for an escape.

...

"But, how were you able to survive?" Ghira was asking Sienna, having heard about Adam's coup attempt. "Surely, they would've seen you healing yourself with your aura as they carried you away." Sienna sighed in annoyance.

"I shrank my aura around the wound and focused it on the inside of it, so they couldn't see I was still conscious while I used it. It was enough to keep me alive...until they threw me in a river." she nearly rolled an eye at the end, as she explained her control over her aura, then her face darkened. "They would've disposed of me, like I was garbage."

"Pretty impressive garbage." Sun tried to lighten the mood, but nearly did the opposite as Sienna nearly slew him with a glare. He let out a nervous laugh, backing away. The police airship anchored itself and Winter disembarked with Kali, making her way to them.

"The police has secured the academy grounds." Winter stated.

"Winter Schnee?" Ghira asked in surprise. Kali stood next to him and frowned when she saw Sienna.

"Sienna." She folded her arms, acknowledging her.

"Kali." Sienna was not any more thrilled to see her, either. Sun, Neptune and Ilia noticed the tension between them.

"I'm guessing you two don't get along." Sun pointed out the obvious. Kali, Sienna and Ghira all gave him the same tired look. "I'm...gonna shut up." Sun decided.

...

Down in the vault, the clash between two Maidens has reached its conclusion. A frozen Cinder plummeted and vanished in the darkness. Raven closed Vernal's lifeless eyes and she felt a piece of herself had died with the girl she groomed to be a decoy in her stead since she was little. She was of the tribe and she was as much her family as any one of them, even more so. Then she opened the door to an entirely different dimension that held the relic and turned when she heard a shot and felt the ground shake. Yang had arrived to face her and little did Raven expect that their heart-to-heart would end with her being the one to shed a tear, broken, as the daughter she abandoned showed more courage and wisdom than her. She said a single word of apology, before escaping through a portal, to the only remaining person she could go to, besides her brother and daughter. Yang took the lantern that was the Relic of Knowledge and made her way up the elevator to a fight that would soon be over. Emerald, Mercury and Hazel were on their last stand, outnumbered, with Jaune, Nora and Ren having rejoined the fight, along with a battered Qrow and Ozpin.

They stopped when they saw the elevator arrive and on it Yang stood tall with a glowing lantern in her hand that everyone assumed could only have been the relic. She looked down at her friends with a reassuring smile that lingered as it fell on Blake, who briefly averted her eyes, as she returned her smile. It told all of them that the battle was over.

Emerald was suddenly overcome with pain as she realized that Cinder had most likely died and the loss of the woman she felt indebted to for life sent her into despair. She could barely breathe as she felt as if she was suddenly suffocating and she needed to escape. Mercury kept calling to her, telling her they had to get out of there and Emerald shut her eyes as she concentrated with every ounce of mental and physical strength she had left to create an illusion that caused her to pass out from the strain. It affected everyone in the main hall, giving Mercury and Hazel a chance to make an escape. The latter grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder to carry her out. Unbeknownst to them, their escape down the mountain side was being observed by Adam Taurus, whose intentions from that point on would remain only his to know.

"What was that?" Blake asked, in horror, after the image faded from their minds.

"An illusion." Ozpin tiredly replied and stood while supporting himself on his cane. "But, an accurate one. That...was Salem." he told them, as none of them actually knew what she looked like.

"Who...are you?" Blake asked, recognizing Ozpin's cane.

"That...is a long story, Miz Belladonna." The boy smiled and Blake and she did not know what to make of him, but the way he spoke definitely reminded her of Ozpin. Yang descended the stairs and handed the relic to Qrow, before going to her sister's side, who suddenly lost strength in her legs and her knees buckled. Weiss was at her side, the next second, with an arm around her, ready to support her.

"Are you okay?" she worriedly asked, thinking Ruby was fainting.

"I should be asking you guys." Ruby softly spoke, trying to keep her breathing even and looked at Weiss' wound, then up at her.

"I'm okay." she said and turned to see Jaune, Ren and Nora coming to their side, at the same time Yang knelt to hug Ruby. "Thank you, Jaune!" Weiss appreciatively said.

"I'm just glad I could finally help." Jaune folded her arms, with a small, but genuine smile.

"Jaune...!" Ruby wanted to tell him to stop belittling himself.

"It's okay!" he cut her off. "I'm good. Really." he assured them.

"Congratulations, Mr. Arc!" Ozpin stood, straightening up, but was visibly having difficulty remaining as such. He bent forward, a little, sighing, before reassuming proper posture.

"Someone's trying too hard." Yang smirked and Ozpin returned it, as he seemed to be too tired to fight gravity for much longer. With her parents joining them in the hall, Blake nervously came to stand in front of her teammates, at Sun's urging, while Ilia told everyone that they had won on all fronts and that their enemy was in complete retreat.

"So, Blake...what brings you here?" Ruby tiredly asked, in a light-hearted fashion.

"I...was about to ask you guys the same." Blake awkwardly smiled.

"It's a looong story." Ruby smiled.

"I...I'm not going anywhere." Blake shrugged, unable to help glancing at Yang.

"Well...That's all that matters." Ruby said. "That we're all here, together." She looked at Weiss, then at Yang. "Right?"

Yang gave Blake a long look, before nodding. "Yeah." she said, letting go of her anger and Blake's eyes wavered as she dropped to her knees to hug all of them, letting her own tears flow. Ozpin and Qrow smiled at their reunion, along with Jaune, Ren and Nora. Ghira and Kali smiled with joy as they watched their daughter and her friends. Winter allowed some of that joy to show on her face, as she stood with the others.

"How touching..." They heard Sienna's voice as she stood with a hand on her hip, looking at the scene and around the hall. Team RWBY stood.

"Who're you?" Yang asked, already not liking her much and assumed a somewhat fight-ready stance, which did nothing to faze Sienna.

"Sienna Kahn." Ozpin spoke. "The Leader of the White Fang." Weiss, Yang and Ruby all looked shocked and Winter was narrowing her eyes at the woman, even more, as she was already aware of her identity.

"Oh?" Sienna raised a brow at him. "And how does a little human...farmhand...know who I am?" She looked Oscar over. Qrow moved closer to him, grabbing the handle of his sword that sent a clear message to Sienna that she to watch herself.

" _You're_ the boss of the White Fang?" Yang incredulously asked, more from surprise that the person behind all the violence they saw in the news and heard of from Weiss was a woman. "Wow." Sienna just raised a brow at that, as well, as she seemed to be getting the same reaction from people.

"Hey...!" Neptune and the rest of the students from Haven came in with a police escort. "Where's Professor?" he asked as he saw Oscar, who he assumed could have also been Ozpin. "I mean, Professor Lionheart." he added. "Where is he?"

"I'll look." Qrow said and headed back inside and up the stairs to the study. They started to follow him, but he held up his hands. "No! Stay here!"

"But, we wanna find him!" Neptune insisted and Qrow just grunted, before moving on, not having the patience to argue.

…

He hoped he would find no signs of Lionheart, that he was long gone. Instead, as he burst in through his door, he immediately halted, seeing the man who was once a friend, lying dead on the floor. In the dark, a creature made of a glowing orb and sharp-ended tentacles was floating above him.

"What the-...?" Qrow assumed a stance, as he had never seen such a thing, before. Suddenly, a woman's mocking voice came from it.

"Enjoy your victory, little scout. You've merely won a battle. But, the war is just beginning." Salem spoke and though Qrow never heard her voice, he knew it was her. He took a step towards the Seer, but a portal opened, almost like the one his sister used and it floated through it, escaping, as it closed. He heard hurried footsteps and walked towards the door.

"No! Stay back! Don't come closer!" he held up his hands to try and hold off Neptune and the others, but they caught a glimpse of their deceased headmaster.

"Professor..." Neptune looked shattered, as did Sage and Scarlet. Qrow let the officers through and remained outside with them.

"I'm sorry." Qrow put a hand on Neptune's shoulder and slowly turned him around to walk them back to the main hall. "Come on."

...

"This truly is a momentous occasion." Everyone heard Ozpin say, though some of them still only saw Oscar.

"Indeed it is, young man!" Ghira agreed, oblivious to who was actually speaking. "I could only dream we would all stand together, like this, one day."

"As have I, Mr. Belladonna. I'm pleased you were able to bring the White Fang back to a more peaceful path, with no disrespect to, Miz Kahn, of course. Her efforts should not be discounted, nor were unjustified." He looked at her. Sienna and Ghira exchanged a strange stare and looked at Oscar.

"Alright, who are you?" Sienna asked, starting to get unnerved by his way of speech and the familiarity with which he spoke of them. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling, then opened.

"I...am the soul of the man you knew as Professor Ozpin." A long silence followed.

"What?" Blake slowly blinked at him and turned to her friends, who all nodded to her, telling her it was true.

"I believe we have much to discuss. Now, that the danger had passed, we can-..."

"Oz!" Ozpin looked back up at the balcony, with the rest, when they heard Qrow and saw Neptune, Sage and Scarlet, along with team ABRN walking out behind him, looking devastated. No one spoke as they slowly came down the stairs.

"Hey, guys...what's going on?" Sun asked. "What happened?"

"It's Leo." Qrow said, talking down to Ozpin, who could tell by his tone that it was grave news. He stared ahead of himself, mournfully.

"Leo..." he whispered, closing his eyes. Sun looked at Neptune's face as it started to dawn on him and he was quickly overcome by grief. "He...didn't deserve such a fate." Ozpin said, looking at his feet.

"Professor..." Ruby wanted to say something, but could not. She realized that despite the man's betrayal and the lives it caused, he had been a dear friend to Ozpin, for a long time.

"He was misguided. He gave in to fear...and many lives were lost as a result. But, _no one_ deserves to be used and discarded. Not even after all he had done. It's...not right." Ozpin said.

"You... _are_ Professor Ozpin." Ghira believed only the real Ozpin could speak with such insight into the character of another Headmaster.

"I _was_." Ozpin corrected him. "In my previous life. And others in many _other lives_ , before that."

"Other lives?" Kali repeated, trying to process what his words implied.

"Never before have I entrusted the truth of my existence to this many individuals." Ozpin looked up, remorse still in his voice. "And perhaps it was my mistake all along. For thousands of years I wouldn't trust anyone." Eyes widened and brows hiked. "I wouldn't dare to impose the burden of my knowledge on them, for I knew it would only endanger them. Then as I witnessed the force conspiring against all life on Remnant corrupt more and more desperate souls to act out its will, I began seeking allies of my own. Only a handful of people, in every life. Every time I would return as someone else, I would rely on them to carry the torch that would keep the darkness at bay." he went on as everyone in the hall listened, intently, including Ilia, team SSN and even ABRN, who Ozpin felt should also understand what happened, there, that night, especially since it cost them the life of their beloved headmaster. "Tonight, proved two things. Firstly, it showed me that relying on but a handful of people to fight these battles with me, will no longer be enough. It is for that reason that I am entrusting everyone in this room. So that all of you, students and leaders, may see why this moment is crucial for all of Remnant. And I want everyone to understand, that no one may be beyond redemption. I have lost friends, people I cared deeply for, in many of the lives I've lived. None have ever turned to serve the evil threatening us. It could never find its way into the minds of my closest of allies. But, if Leonardo is to be blamed for the loss of so many lives...then I am guilty of much worse. The mistakes I have made are not only more numerous than the lives that exist right now, they have caused the loss of just as many." he admitted to the shock of almost everyone.

"Secondly, there is one thing that gives me hope and comfort, in all of this. When I founded Beacon Academy I wanted it to light the way for the people, both for those who wished to live their lives in peace and for those who would fight to uphold it. That it would be a symbol of hope and safety. Hence its name. All of their names." Everyone in the room slowly pieced together why all of the academies were indeed named similarly, but more importantly, they realized with quickly passing incredulity who Ozpin had been.

"But, the huntsmen academies were all founded by..." Ghira trailed off as he and the rest made the connection and realized that a person who shaped Remnant's entire history was standing before them. "The King of Vale." he whispered with a sense of awe that could not possibly be any stronger.

"Another life. In ever more interesting times." Ozpin replied. "I built the schools, not only to guard people, but to unite them, despite their heritage, creed or any prejudice that divided them. And now...seeing all of you stand, here, tonight...human, Faunus..." He looked at those he spoke of. "Students, teachers and leaders, those were once oppressed and who, despite the common hatred for them or their name..." he looked from all Faunus to the two Schnees. "Have chosen to show the world who they truly are and stand united. A unity that brought not only Haven and Mistral, but all of Remnant a considerable victory, tonight." He gripped his cane as he paused and Qrow saw he was worn out. "It is for this purpose I have built these very institutions. Despite all of my failures, I can take comfort in the fact that in this endeavor, at least, I have not failed." He smiled, but his speech slowed. "And I want to...thank you, all, for...fighting to-..." he suddenly fell to his knees, trying to support himself with his cane and his eyes flashed as he lost control. Oscar surfaced and was heavily panting as Qrow went to kneel at his side.

"Oz!" he exclaimed and as he looked closer, he could see it was Oscar. "Kid?"

"H-he..." Oscar struggled to say. "He used...too much energy...fighting. He couldn't...he couldn't stay. He says he...has to rest."

"Well, he's not the only one. Take a breather, kid." Qrow tried to calm him.

"No! We have to..." Oscar could barely keep himself conscious as the fatigue caught up with him. "To get the relic to...Atlas." he uttered what Ozpin barely had the strength to tell him and he fell forward. Qrow caught him, in one arm, while holding the relic with the other.

"Oscar!" Ruby and the rest went to him. "Is he okay?"

"Just tired." Qrow reassuringly said and gave Oscar over to Ren, so he would support him as he stood, holding the artifact.

"That lantern..." Jaune was asking. "Is that...?"

"Yeah. The Relic of Knowledge." Qrow confirmed.

" _Relic of Knowledge_...what!? What's-...? What is this...?" Ilia was suddenly rambling, as she tried to understand what was happening. "What's going on, here? Who's this _kid_? How is your _dead_ headmaster, here? What's this force!? What the hell!?" She looked at Blake, hoping her head was not spinning any more than hers. Blake could only look at her friends, pleadingly, so they would also help her understand it all. Her parents were also still at a loss, as was Sienna and the students from Haven. Qrow was rubbing his face, with a groan.

"Nhgn. Not again." he muttered, as he would have to explain the rest, again.

...

Qrow lead them to the academy's theater room that was used for plays, away from the police and the soldiers of the White Fang, so only the Belladonna family, Ilia and Sienna would hear what he had to tell them. Teams SSSN and ABRN were also present, as the members of the latter could not be dissuaded from wanting to know why their teachers and headmaster lost their lives and Ozpin chose not to sugar-coat things, as Qrow put it. Oscar was just waking up and he heard Qrow's muffled voice, as his hearing cleared up.

"So, that's basically it, in a nutshell. Or a bombshell." he said, using a more appropriate expression. "It's too much and fer too many of ya, if I'm honest. But, Oz thinks we'll have a better chance if we trust more o' ya. Think it's too late, now, but if anyone wants to back out..." He did not need to finish the sentence, as he looked at Blake's family, Ilia, the students and Sienna.

"I'm not intimidated." Sienna declared, fixing him with a glare.

"No one said you were." Qrow held up his hands, defensively, as Sienna seemed to think he was questioning her resolve, specifically.

"All this time, a far greater threat was out there, while we were all fighting amongst ourselves." Ghira said.

"And _whose_ fault is _that_?" Sienna asked him, rhetorically.

"Sienna...!" Ghira exclaimed, sensing the hatred in here voice, against human kind.

"Eh, she's not wrong." Qrow shrugged. "Humans have treated you guys like crap, since day one."

"There is fault on _both_ sides." Ghira stated.

"Sure. And it's not gonna stop anytime soon, either." Qrow replied. "But, that doesn't matter. Our enemy doesn't care if you have a tail, horns, scales or anythin'. She'll destroy _all_ life, of we don't stand against her."

"This...woman, Salem. She commands the Grimm, but we don't even know the extent of her power." Ghira repeated what Qrow told him.

"Yeah. For all we know, that might be just scratchin' the surface." Qrow said and noticed Oscar opened his eyes and was trying to sit up as Jaune and Ren held his back, having carried him. "You okay, kid?"

"I think so." Oscar said and attempted to stand on his feet and paused, listening.

 _"I'm sorry, Oscar!"_ he heard Ozpin. _"I could not let you face-..."_

"I know." Oscar said, out loud, stopping him and some raised a brow, but suspected who he was addressing. _"I was stupid to think I could fight a guy like him. Eight of us couldn't even take him down."_ He referred to how, in addition to Qrow and Ozpin, Jaune, Ren and Nora were also throwing themselves at Hazel, while Ruby, Weiss and Blake were also handling Emerald and Mercury.

 _"Still...I forcibly took control."_ Ozpin admitted. _"I swear it will never happen, again."_ he added.

 _"Well, if we have to fight_ him _, again, then you're welcome."_ Oscar tiredly told him, wincing.

 _"Whenever that day comes, you'll be ready."_ Ozpin replied, determinedly. Oscar noticed half of the people were giving him odd looks and he scratched the back of his head.

"Uh...hi." Oscar awkwardly waved a hand to the new faces.

"Hello..." Ghira greeted, almost as awkwardly.

"Is he...in there?" Sienna walked up to him and he took a step back. "I want to know something."

"Um...he's still weak, but he can hear you." Oscar told her.

"Then tell me...was it ever any better for the Faunus? He said this was a historic day. But, so was the day he built the schools. Giving the Faunus rights after the Great War. And yet we still had to rise up. The White Fang still had to be born." She stepped closer to Oscar, who took another one back. "We still had to _fight_ for respect. And what changed, throughout it all? Do you really think that it will be any different for our kind? Once we defeat this enemy? No one outside this room will see the _unity_ you spoke of. Humans will still be vile and bigoted. They'll never stop seeing us as anything but monsters and slaves." she asked.

"Sienna, the same can be said of many Faunus who are just as hateful of Humans. For no other reason than what they are." Ghira argued. "Even those who mean them no harm. Please, I know you're not blind to that!" Sienna frowned. "If you truly hated all humans, you would've lead the attack on Haven yourself. But, when I heard Adam tried to take your life, I knew there had to be a reason he would try to take your place. And it's because you wouldn't harm innocent teachers and students, not even humans, who fight side by side with others of our kind. I know you are better than that."

"He's right." Ilia stepped up, stopping at a safe distance, out of caution. "I nearly betrayed my own kind, for the same reason Adam did. But, I had to realize that I couldn't blame all humans for what was being done to us, when it was us, Faunus, fighting one another. You said yourself, Adam and those who still follow him did more to hurt us than humans ever did." she told her and Sienna had to accept they were right, as she avoided everyone's eyes to glare in front of her.

"He...said it might not come today..." Oscar spoke. "Or even in years, but today we..." He looked at Blake with a smile. "Made a _larger stride_." Blake blinked, then smiled, as she remembered her very first conversation with Ozpin. Sienna noticed their exchange, even if she did not know the meaning behind it. She folded her arms and it was a sign that she was silently agreeing with them and the alliance they would have to forge.

They looked outside, at the small army of Faunus that came to fight with them and Yang chuckled.

"Lots of rabbit Faunus, out there." Yang pointed out, with another small laugh and Blake's face fell, at what she was implying, along with Ghira's, Kali's and Sienna's.

"Yang!" Blake exclaimed, staring at her, in disbelief.

"Pheheh..." Qrow laughed. "Hey, if she hadn't said it, I would've." he stated, as it lightened the mood.

"And none of us would've been the least bit surprised." Winter commented with a flat face.

" _You_ should be happy." Qrow replied and her eyes narrowed.

"Why?" Winter asked, having no idea why he would even say that.

"Well, the more of 'em are hoppin' around, then more of 'em could work the mines, fer yer dad, right?" Qrow snidely said and as all Faunus in the room glared, Winter finally snapped.

"That's it! I've had enough of your insults!" Winter stepped close to him, screaming. "You keep assuming I'm anything like my father! You think I approve of _anything_ he does!? How he runs the company or how he treats the workers!? I know first-hand how he treats them! How he treats his own _family!_ " Her voice hiked and became raspy at the word. "Why do you think I chose the military!? You think I _wanted_ any of his corrupt empire and be groomed to be a heartless magnate who cares more about wealth and status than _his own family_!?" Her voice became even stronger, towards the end, again and Qrow was taking in it. "He only married our mother for the family name and _nothing_ else! He never even loved her!" Winter's voice started to crack as Weiss and the others silently listened to Winter's side of the story that Ruby and Yang heard. "The only way I could make something of myself and be _free_ of him was to run from our home! And I did it, _knowing_ I would be leaving my _little sister_ behind, with an _abusive_ control-freak, while our mother drank herself nearly to death, every day, poisoning herself, just to forget what he was doing to our family! To our _name_!" She was almost on the verge of tears. "She became an _alcoholic_ , who could barely stand, most days, let alone keep my sister away from that _monster_! And _now_ she only has our little brother, who our father have already molded to be _just like him_!" She nearly spat. "She's probably _in_ our garden, right now, passed out, so she wouldn't even have to care!" she finished.

"Hmhp. Sounds like she and I would get along great." Qrow stated and everyone already struck by Winter's story, was stunned even further by his seemingly callous response. Winter bared her teeth and swung a hand to slap him, but Qrow caught it and leaned closer as her hand was shaking in his grip from all the anger. "So, you got a messed up family and your mom keeps lookin' at the bottom of every bottle, so she can forget all the crap in her life? Gee, I can't imagine what _that's_ like." he dryly told her and Winter's eyes widened as she stopped fighting his grip and he let her hand go.

Ruby was looking at him, almost tearfully as she understood her uncle, better, at that moment. He has been putting on a brave face, hiding all his grief and sorrow behind a cool and sometimes callous attitude, for a lot longer than anyone, there. Winter stepped back, still glaring at him, with her eyes wavering, uncertain what to say, but it was Qrow who spoke first. He briefly closed his eyes as he sighed and put his hands in his pockets, before looking at her.

"Look...I was wrong about you." he started and Winter's face softened as she blinked in surprise. "I could already tell the moment you decided t' stay, here, with your little sister and ignore the brass." Qrow nodded at Weiss as he mentioned her. "And...it looks like we both got a family that can't ever be fixed." Qrow looked aside, thinking of Raven. "We could _probably_ argue whose is more broken, too. But...if the kids can get along..." He looked at Ruby and Weiss. "We oughta try, too." He looked back at Winter, offering an olive branch and waited as Winter was silently looking at her feet. Qrow folded his arms. "But, I'm not gonna hug you!" he added and Winter looked up at him with only half a glare as Qrow had a small smirk. Winter sighed.

"We can...try." Winter said and they both looked at her sister and Ruby to see them smiling.

 _"I have seen individuals who were the opposites of each other, rivals and even enemies, reconcile their differences. And no matter how many times I've seen it, as they say, it never gets old."_ Ozpin commented as Oscar smiled.

"Alright, we're gonna have t' get t' Atlas and set Ironwood's can-of-a-head straight, so the military'll be on our side or at least out of our way." Qrow said, standing next to Oscar, on his other side, and he was also talking to Ozpin. Oscar nodded, in agreement, for him. "Of course, we don't wanna draw too much attention t' ourselves, either. James's probably got his ships floatin' around, but they don't really get the people, there, all worried, as much as they would anywhere else."

"We're going to need resources." Winter stated. "Our numbers won't mean anything if we cannot keep even a small force supplied."

"What about the company?" Weiss asked. "The Schnee Dust Company could give us everything we need. Money, weapons _and_ food."

"You think yer dad'll just do us a solid, after you bailed? Even if we can smooth things over with the General, I don't think ol' Jacque'll be thrilled t' see you _and_ all of _us_." Qrow pointed out.

"I don't _care_ what he thinks!" Weiss defiantly walked forward. "The Company is _mine_ to lead. And if he won't help us, I'll take it _back_ from him." she stated and Qrow's eyes widened, along with everyone else's.

"Weiss! It will _not_ be that simple." Winter warned her.

"All it took for the Company to be his, was to take the Schnee name. If I can't take the name from him, I'll make him regret dishonoring it." she vowed. "He has many questionable business partners..." she smiled at Blake. "And I'm sure the laborers, there, have plenty to tell." She smiled at Blake. "We just have to expose everything the Company had to hide under his management."

"Think about what you're saying, kid." Qrow said. "Even if we _can_ do all that and even if he gets thrown in a cell...he's still yer dad." he told her, with a quick glance at Winter.

"He ruined my grandfather's company and _our_ family!" Weiss replied, more firmly. "He deserves it." she added more calmly, but coolie. She glanced at Ruby, in particular, to see she was looking at her with worry and calmed herself further.

"Well...it would be nice if we could actually pull it off. Good ol' Nick could finally stop turnin' in his-..." Qrow stopped himself or maybe it was Weiss' glare. He cleared his throat.

"It would be another _large stride_!" Ghira exclaimed. "If the Schnees could reclaim the Company from that contemptable man and return it to the ways of the one who started it, it would not only be a better world for all who depend on it, but for those _the company depends on_." he said and all understood he was referring to the mistreated Faunus-labor the Company relied on.

"We got a lot on our plate, 'ere." Qrow said. "Getting to Atlas, as soon as we can, is number one. Gettin' a ship and gettin' on our way, won't be a problem. How we're gonna deal with the warm welcome, over there and the military, we'll figure out on the way. But, we gotta deal with somethin' else, while we're still here." Qrow told them and the others wondered what it was. "Haven...is gonna need a new headmaster, _effective today_!" Qrow exclaimed. "It'll have to be someone who's already _in-the-know_. Someone...from here." He looked at all of the adults, starting with Ghira, who was surprised by the immediate nomination.

 _"Me!?"_ he asked. "I...would be honored, but..." He looked outside and at his family. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline. The White Fang needs me, once again. I have to see this through." he indicated towards the Faunus still gathered outside who were giving accounts to the police and interviews to reportes and independent newshounds, one or two who were actually half hound. "I cannot leave." Qrow sighed at that and looked at Kali, whose eyes widened and her ears bent back as she was mortified by the idea.

"What? Oh, no! I'm hardly fit to run a huntsman academy. I'm no fighter." she shied away.

"A few of our enemies would disagree." Ghira smiled at her. "But, my wife is right." He turned back to Qrow. "If this fight should take us elsewhere, Menagerie will need her. And perhaps...not just as an interim leader, while I'm away. But, as its new Chieftain." he said and Kali turned to him, in shock. Blake looked as uncertain as her mother, at first, but, seeing her apprehension, nodded to her, with an encouraging smile. Kali looked back at her husband and took his hand as a sign she was accepting her new role.

"We cannot leave Menagerie and the White Fang without direction." Ghira said and they all looked at Sienna, who was silent the whole time, not even contesting leadership. She was giving Ghira a subtle glare, but there was no anger behind it, as she seemed to be resigned to the fact that the newly reformed organization needed a different leader, whether if it would go back to its roots or do things differently. She knew that with Ghira's lead, it would be a bit of both. Sienna did not say anything and just looked away.

"Well, if she's not gonna lead _The Fang_ , anymore..." Qrow started. "Then what if..." he trailed off. The thought that entered his head was as unorthodox and controversial to him as it was to everyone else in the room. And that was putting it lightly. He stared at Sienna, as his own mind was screaming he was out of it. She gave him a disturbed look, as she clearly never considered the idea, nor would she, in a million years, she thought. Though, she did have both considerable fighting experience and was a natural leader. Qualities that made her the next best person, in the room, to lead the academy, excluding Winter.

...

"If we're gonna have a night's rest...as we should..." Qrow wearily said as they came back outside to the courtyard, where the White Fang were sitting and idly waiting. "These folks'll need a place t' crash fer t'night, won't they?"

"But, where do you suppose we could have them, all, stay?" Ghira asked.

"You could put 'em all in the dorms, I guess. The semester was supposed t' start tomorrow, but it'll probably be put off fer a few more days." With a mix of anger and sadness Qrow looked towards the forensic teams and the vehicle that was already taking Lionheart's body away and the others followed his gaze.

"Perhaps we should have an announcement, tomorrow morning, before you leave to Atlas, about the changes at the academy." Ghira looked at Sienna. "I would also like to say a few words to assure the public they needn't fear the White Fang."

"Sure. Why not." Qrow shrugged. "Now, if you don't all mind, I think I'll get a head-start on my sleep. The rest o' ya might even make it back to our place before the sun's up." he told them as he walked towards the edge of the cliff and some stared after him as he casually hopped down from it, not knowing he was flying down. Ghira looked at the children, in confusion, seeing they were not surprised by Qrow's sudden exit.

"I assume he...has a _landing strategy_?" Ghira asked his daughter, with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, who, in turn, looked at Ruby and Yang. They nodded.

"You can come back with us to where we're staying!" Ruby smiled at Blake.

"Um..." Blake hesitantly looked from her to Yang, then to her parents, who smilingly nodded. "Okay." Blake nodded with a nervous glance at Yang, who picked up on it and averted her eyes. Ilia noticed the awkwardness between them, as she stood near Blake and she glanced between them, but did not raise a brow to show she caught the exchange.

"Qrow might be right." Jaune noted with a groan. "It's gonna dawn, by the time we get back."

"Tiiiirrred." Nora dragged her hammer.

"Then we're going to find a room in the dormitories." Kali said, looking at Ghira, then Blake, who nodded.

"Man, I would take a blown up room, instead of the Professor being gone." Sun quietly told Neptune and the latter nodded with a saddened expression and the members of team ABRN were not feeling any better, either.

"And I'll just go to my new office, then." Sienna dryly said and started sashaying towards the main building, passing in front of the boys of team SSSN, who, along with the two boys from ABRN slowly followed her with their eyes, almost floating after her if they were not intimidated.

"Well...maybe it won't be _that_ bad." Sun lightly shrugged, still looking at her. Kali shook her head at how all of their eyes were glued to Sienna. Ghira let out a brief 'hmph' for a laugh as he folded his arms, with a small smile. He could have certainly related to them, even more, in his younger days, he thought, as he glanced towards Sienna, then to his wife, when he heard a small growl from her and he cleared his throat, looking anywhere to avoid her glare.

Sienna briefly stopped as she passed Oscar, giving him a longer side-glance and he nervously shifted, then followed her with his eyes, as well.

"'I've never really seen Faunus, before. I mean, I saw a lot, since we've been here, but...she's just really...um..." Oscar searched for a word.

 _"Intimidating?"_ Ozpin asked, given how Oscar reacted to Winter, at first.

"No! Uh, well...yes." Oscar corrected himself. "But, she's so..." He trailed off as he felt his cheeks flush.

 _"Ah."_ Ozpin understood what he was trying not to really say. _"Alluring...would be a word I'd use."_ Ozpin said as Oscar watched her cross the courtyard.

Weiss noticed Winter walking off, towards the same ranked female officer, who was on the ship with them. "Winter?" she called after her and Winter stopped to reply.

"I will requisition an airship from the Police, for tomorrow. We can depart, as soon as we are done here." she told Weiss and moved on.

"Hey..." Sun walked up to Blake. "We'll see you guys, tomorrow, 'kay?" Sun said, still less cheerful in his tone.

"Right." Blake said.

"We're sorry, Sun." Ruby sorrowfully told him, seeing he was upset. Though she barely knew Lionheart and despite his actions, she could see how hard losing him was on the student, who also lost other teachers, as well. In a way, Haven Academy had it even worse than Beacon.

"Yeah." Sun sighed. "So're we. But, it's better than being kept in the dark. And not even knowing why it all happened. It's just a little too much." he said and Blake looked at him, worryingly, which Sun saw. "But, we'll pull through. We always do." he reassuringly added, exchanging nods with his team and ABRN.

"We'll see you guys, tomorrow." Ruby stated.

"You think they'll want some fancy ceremony for Sienna?" Sun asked them.

"A speech will have to do." Weiss guessed.

"Then it's...onwaaaard to Atlas." Nora yawned, still trying to sound chipper, even with all the fatigue they all had.

"We probably won't have time for anything else." Jaune said.

They said their farewells for the night and hurried back to their apartment as fast as their tired legs could carry them.

"Ruby...?" Weiss asked as Ruby yawned.

"Yeah?" Ruby sleepy turned to her.

"When you...stopped Cinder and Jaune..." she started and Ruby's eyes widened some as she could guess what Weiss was about to ask her. "How did you...? _What_ was that?"

"Um..." Ruby looked away. "It's...another story." she awkwardly shrugged. "I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise." she said, with undue worry, as if Weiss was demanding it from her.

"Hey, it's okay." Weiss said, calmingly. "I'm not prying. It was just...I have _no_ idea what I saw." she told her.

"Uh, well..." Ruby let out a small, nervous laugh. "It's kinda cool." she told her as their voices faded into the night.

...

"Night, you guys." Yang said as she entered her own little room. She draped her trench-coat over the single chair and stepped towards her bed.

"Yang..." she heard a voice and stopped. She slowly turned, halfway around to look at Blake standing in her door. She looked afraid to even cross the threshold and talking did not seem to come any easier, either. Yang waited. "I..." Blake tried to start, but briefly averted her gaze, before daring to find it, again. "I want to say...that I'm sorry. Ruby said all that matters is that we're here together, but…I know you still have to be angry." Yang did not look at her, showing that Blake was right. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. And not just because I know I don't deserve it, but because..." Blake braced herself. "Because I'd do it all, again..." Yang's eyes widened as she turned to state at her. "If it meant Adam wouldn't hurt you, again. Any of you." Yang narrowed her eyes and after what Sun told her, back in Menagerie, Blake could guess what Yang would have said if she had not preempted her. "I know it wasn't my decision. And that I made yours _for_ you. For all of you." she admitted. "I ran. I ran, because Adam swore he wouldn't stop hunting everyone I care about. I can't forgive myself for what I did." she repeated. "But, I couldn't forgive myself, if anything happened to any of you, either." Her eyes started welling up. "I came here, tonight...and I was ready to fight an army of White Fang and Grimm. But, the thought of that didn't even scare me as much as thinking about what I'd say if...if I'd ever see you, again. I know…I can't say anything to make things right." A tear rolled down her cheeks. "But..." her voice cracked. "I don't want to lose you." Another tear came, but her voice suddenly had strength. "And I'll be damned if, after everything, Adam _tore us_ apart." she told Yang, who, much to Blake's utter bafflement, started to laugh, harder and harder. She weirdly stared at her, until Yang repeated what she said.

"Adam _tore us_..." Yang said, still in fits of giggles and Blake realized she made an unintentional pun that, coincidentally, also managed to completely break the tension between them. She looked at Yang, slowly shaking her head as the trails of tears she shed had not even started drying yet. She fought her lips, trying to stop them from curving into a small smile, but as she saw Yang's own, neither of them could help it. Then Yang turned more serious, as did Blake, as they gazed into each other's eyes, before Yang moved to embrace her, one hand on her back, the other, around her bare waist that made Blake shiver from the cold metal, but it also made her blush, as she returned Yang's embrace.

"I forgive you." Yang said and Blake needed a second to even register it.

"Yang…" she started, in protest.

"No! I need to." Yang stated and hugged her tighter and Blake did not protest any further as they stood in each other arms in the comfortable silence of the dark room.

…

The next day would see them, the press, Mistral's police and many of its citizens gathered all over Haven Academy's campus. On the courtyard, Ghira was in the middle of an impassioned speech, assuring all present and those the news would reach of the new direction of the White Fang. For many, human 'and' Faunus, it was difficult to trust the organization, again, though their actions the night before, spoke for themselves. Sienna Kahn being inducted as the huntsmen academy's new headmaster, was even harder to accept and for many it was even outrageous. She was not particularly thrilled with her new position and would not give any comments, either. But, she was committed to ensuring that the new generation would learn, even more, to work together and for the Faunus among them to feel their world was changing for the better. Ruby and the rest stood behind the press and police, from where they inconspicuously listened to Ghira. Most of the people present had no idea that, apart from the students and the reformed White Fang, it was them who were to thank for Haven's safety. And all of them preferred it that way. None of them did it to make the news and be the center of attention.

"I would question how such a thing is even possible..." Winter was quietly replying to Weiss and she glanced at Ruby, who was a short distance ahead of them with Qrow and Yang. "But, after what we've been told, it's...not any more difficult to accept, I suppose. And you say it can severely harm Grimm?" She turned to Weiss.

"Well, she said she doesn't really know how it works. Or how to use it. She told me this was only the second time she ever used it. The first time was when...she saw Pyrrha..." Weiss trailed off, looking at the ground, before saying one more word.

"Emotional distress, then." Winter guessed, after a brief silence. "It's also a way through which one's semblance may be activated for the first time." she noted.

"I guess." Weiss said and looked at Ruby, thinking of how the moment must have haunted her. And yet, she not only smiled, but gave others the will to.

…

Everyone came together, one last time, before they would leave for Atlas. Kali was going to take a separate airship, back to Menagerie with a squad of White Fang soldiers as protection, while team SSSN would join Ruby and crew, along with Ghira and the White Fang, having been lent several airship to transport all of them. Qrow stood with Oscar as they watched all of them prepare.

"Well…it has t' take a village, I guess." Qrow commented.

…

"Ilia…" She turned as she heard Blake behind her. "Are you…sure you're okay, with…going back there? To that place?" Blake knew it will be hard for her, considering her history and how she lost her parents.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just…I wanna thank you…for even trusting me. Even after all I did." she replied.

"That's because you showed me who you really are, Ilia." Blake told her, with a hand on her shoulder that she could feel she briefly shuddered under as she turned pink in her freckles, again.

"I did…didn't I." Ilia reminded herself that she confessed her romantic feelings to her. Yang raised a brow with Ruby. Ilia was suddenly aware of their attention and flushed red. Blake glanced at the two of them, before placing her other hand on her other shoulder.

"Ilia…" Blake tried to get her to meet her gaze and she slowly placed a hand on Blake's, before willing herself to meet her eyes.

"There's no point in talking about it." Ilia sighed, letting go of her hand, resigned to the fact that Blake did not reciprocate her feelings and Blake wanted to say more, but Ilia spoke. "I'm okay…Blake. I'll be fine. You…forgiving me…is already more than I hoped for." she told Blake. She stepped back as Blake let her hands down. "I'll meet you on the ship." Ilia told her and turned to walk away.

"What was that about?" Yang quietly asked, having some idea and Blake looked at the ground.

"Ilia and I…grew up in the White Fang together." Blake started. "She was my best friend in Menagerie, before I left on missions with…Adam and before I quit and went to Beacon. She stayed with the White Fang and became even more radicalized and fanatical. On the night they tried to take Menagerie, she…told me she had feelings for me, for all those years." Blake finished, still looking at the ground as Yang and Ruby stared.

"Wait…" Ruby said. "What do you mean? Does she, like… _like_ you?" she could not phrase it any way else.

"Yes, Ruby." Blake sighed.

"Uh…that can happen?" Ruby innocently asked and Blake looked at her in surprise, before giving Yang the same look, who was not actually shocked by it.

"Yeah, Ruby. It can." Yang told her.

"Oh…" Ruby uncomfortably shifted her legs, looking down at them, as she tried to understand it. "Wow." she quietly squeaked, before smiling. "That's nice!" she said, completely fine with it.

"Y-yes." Blake nodded, with a small awkward smile, glad she understood it. "It is." she added, before briefly meeting Yang's eyes, as both of them looked away.

…

They finally all boarded the ships and began the journey to the icy Kingdom of Atlas. A trip that would also take them through the eastern part of the continent of Anima, its large mountain-ranges and a cold sea, before they would even see the whites of the fangs of the sleeping beast that they would have to tame, before it helped them. As they took off and passed over the hills of the capital Yang sat in her seat, looking at the others, who were either conversing or sleeping. She noticed Oscar was preoccupied with his and probably Ozpin's thoughts, again. He shifted, somewhat uncomfortably and Yang could swore she heard him mention something about having to get warmer clothes, if they were going to the poles. What only occurred to her, after a few seconds, was that Oscar was not even moving his mouth. Yet, she could still hear his voice.

" _It already feels cold, up here. It's going to be even worse in Atlas, then."_ she heard him uncomfortably say and she blinked in confusion, then, in shock, as Ozpin's voice, the way she remembered it was like, replied.

" _Hopefully, it will not be through combat we will keep ourselves warm."_ he said.

 **The End**

 **Author's note (RANT WARNING):** Frankly, I wasn't particularly satisfied with a few things in Volume 5. The pacing, character lines, interactions and development, all left a good deal to be desired, for me. I completely understand that they had to squeeze everything into 15-20 minute chapters and that it is entirely unrealistic for anyone to expect to see and hear all the things they want from every character and every scene.

With that said, events felt rushed and we barely got to actually see the city of Mistral or its citizens and mix of culture more closely. What we got was barely a cursory look and a tiny bit more exploration of the lower class, through Qrow's search for his huntsmen contacts.

What also bugged me was the dialogue given to and used by certain to characters, from who it felt out of character and/or unusual. e.g.: When Nora talked about "mastering" semblances. Ren sounded perfectly fine explaining all that stuff, but Nora, no. Or when Jaune referred to Ozpin as "Oz". Ruby to Qrow as "Qrow" rather than "Uncle Qrow". Yang was the one who usually called him by just his first-name. It felt odd to hear it from Ruby. Jaune immediately describing his semblance with such accuracy that he even used the word "amplify." These may have been small things, easily passing people's attention by, but as someone who always tries to keep characters in-character and who might even rewrite a single sentence half-a-dozen times or more, before it feels like it's being said by a certain character, I just can't not notice them.

The whole part about Yang meeting Raven was meant to keep the viewers in suspense to make them worry about Yang's choice, when it was perfectly obvious from the start she was never going to side with his mother or really mistrust Ozpin and the rest. Ruby was her priority and nothing raven told her would have changed that. It was never really a worry that she might be swayed.

In a similar vein, while it was nice to see that Blake got under Adam's skin by telling him he was not her main concern and he was essentially being cast aside, as someone who isn't even worthy to be considered a danger, it was quite disappointing to see him go down with one…admittedly awkwardly animated dodge and slam. Adam, as unraveled as he was starting to become, should still have presented a challenge, even if Blake and Sun tag-teamed him. He went down pathetically easily and detracted from, rather than added to the excitement.

Similarly, again. It was quite disappointing to see Hazel being reduced to a brute. Sure, he might not have lost his ability to talk and think, like Hulk, but he went from a seemingly pacifistic, almost enigmatically non-confrontational man, to a rabid beast. All, over losing a sister. Sure, I get the Hansel and Gretel reference, but him blaming Ozpin for it and then trying to crush kids, just to exact his misguided revenge also detracted, rather than added to his character and to the story.

Vernal's character was wasted. As was Sienna's. Both had potential. Great character design and great voice-actresses.

I was partially angry at the Maiden Raven bait and switch reveal, because I've written a small fic, before Volume 5, where I named my fictional Spring Maiden Verna, nearly choosing the same name the show's writers did and I was elated, ecstatic even, that not only did they almost thought the same way I did, they made Vernal's character into a tomboy with the perfect voice. My reaction, when seeing Raven's eyes flare up was "WHAT!? No! No, no, no, NO! Why!? Why would they make her into a Maiden!?" I thought it was overkill. Secondly, while it is certainly a clever plot-twist, it may have also left a hole in it. Lionheart had to have known what the Spring Maiden looked like, before she ran, a decade ago. Shouldn't he have found it suspicious when he saw Vernal, then? Or did Raven coincidentally chose a girl, who bore more than a small resemblance to the original Spring Maiden, so Lionheart would think it was the same girl who ran away? A bit too convenient for the plot.

And the way Raven revealed her semblance to Weiss and Yang couldn't have been more anti-climactic. Really? She just runs off into the forest to then dramatically land in front of them. Cue Nora's expression when Ozpin back-flipped onto the couch to spin his cane.

While the Weiss and Yang reunion was touching, it was also annoying. Those two barely had a scene together, apart from their Tournament fight. Yang and Blake hung out. They were partners. But, Weiss is Ruby's partner and that emotional hug should've been with Ruby. And I'm not just saying that because I ship White Rose.

I know that the reason Yang seemed to forgive Blake so easily, at the end, was meant to be some sort of a lesson about forgiveness and all that, but it just happened too fast and too easily.

The last thing that annoyed me was how Mercury slammed his fist in the ground, in annoyance, as they were being defeated. Now, Yang and Ozpin (through Oscar) were skilled, more than proficient, in hand-to-hand, but Ruby getting the better of Mercury and Emerald, after just two months of however rigid training, that was something I just could not believe. So, in this rewrite of mine, I tried to give some background to how that could have worked, because they should not have bested them like that. Or at all, in fact. Maybe, after Yang went after Raven, and it was Ruby, Weiss and Yang, against Emerald and Mercury, 3 vs. 2, with the rest taking on Hazel, then I can believe they'd win. But 2 vs 2. Ruby against either Mercury or Emerald. Definitely not. Blake and Weiss against them should be a more even fight. Of course, if any of the others could took a few shots at them, while fending Hazel off, then I can accept their seemingly sound defeat. Otherwise, nope.


End file.
